Shares extended gains on the HCM Stock Exchange on Thursday but corrected down on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange given stronger profit-taking pressure.

In HCM City, the benchmark VN-Index added 0.34 per cent to close at 722.02 points. The Index gained over 2 per cent in the last five sessions and has expanded 8.6 per cent this year.

On the Ha Noi bourse, the HNX-Index sank for the first time in the last four trades, edging down 0.33 per cent to end at 89.52 points. The northern market index has climbed 11.7 per cent since December 30, 2016.

Banks continued to be the major support for the market.

Five of nine listed banks on the two main exchanges advanced and only two declined.

Sacombank (STB) was the biggest gainer, up 4.3 per cent, after the bank reported its pre-tax profits increasing 50 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter.

The three largest lenders – BIDV (BID), Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG) – grew between 1.2-2.3 per cent each. Profits of these banks all surpassed VND2 trillion (US$88 million) in the first three months of this year.

Many large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange also advanced on information of high dividend payment, such as Vinamilk (VNM), steelmakers Hoa Phat Group and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and food producer Kido Group (KDC).

On the defensive side, some blue chips remained in a downward cycle including real estate developers VinGroup (VIC) and Novaland Investment Group (NVL), brewery Sabeco (SAB), food producer Masan Group (MSN), PetroVietnam Drillings and Well Service (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS).

“After five straight sessions of rallying, the VN30 Index is approaching the strong resistance at 685-690, the boundary deciding whether the VN-Index surpasses medium-term peak at 720”, stock analyst Tran Duc Anh at Bao Viet Securities Co wrote in yesterday’s market report.

Anh maintained a cautious view on market outlook and suggests investors make short-term trading or reduce stock exposure below the moderate level.

Trading volume decreased slightly yesterday, totaling nearly 268 million shares worth a combined VND5.2 trillion ($229 million) in the two markets. These figures were still 24.4 per cent and 22.4 per cent higher than the average daily trading volume and value of last week.

Foreign investors returned as net buyers in HCM City’s market yesterday for a modest net value of VND55 billion while they extended their net buying streak to four sessions in a row with a net value of VND3.8 billion, up 160 per cent over Wednesday’s value on Ha Noi’s exchange. — VNS