Shares recouped nearly half of their loss on Tuesday as bargain hunters combed large-cap stocks, lifting the overall market.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index regained more than 30 points, or 2.32 per cent, to close at 1,341.34 points. The southern market’s index lost nearly 5 per cent on Monday.

Blue chips led the market growth with 27 out of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity increasing while only two declined.

Gainers contributing to the VN-Index most included Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPB), PV Gas (GAS), Vinhomes (VHM), brewer Sabeco (SAB), Vingroup (VIC), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Vinamilk (VNM) and Vincom Retail (VRE) with growth of between 2.4 per cent and 6.3 per cent each.

Prices of many shares, especially companies with good performance, have dropped to attractive levels, luring bargain hunters.

According to Nguyen Thanh Lam, analysis director at Maybank Investment Bank, the divergence will be strong in the next period.

“In my opinion, prices of the good stocks with relative big capitalisation are at a reasonable level, even attractive,” Lam was quoted as saying on bizlive.vn, adding Viet Nam has the ability to control inflation, keep the interest rate stable and the growth scenario is unlikely to change much, so the market price is not expensive at the current level.

The VN-Index fell from the peak of 1,530 points in early April to 1,310 points on Monday, the lowest since November 2020.

Nearly 728 million shares worth VND21 trillion (US$913 million) were traded on HCM City’s market.

Foreign traders increased buying local shares. They were responsible for net buys worth VND1.04 trillion on Tuesday, nearly five times higher than the net buy value on Monday.

The latest data from the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) showed that since the beginning of April, foreign investors have net bought nearly VND3.3 trillion on this exchange, a sharp contrast to net sell of VND7 trillion in the first quarter of this year and VND75 trillion in the 2020-21 period.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also regained 2.27 per cent to close at 345.17 points. The northern market’s index has declined for eight consecutive sessions since April 14 with total lost of more than 23 per cent.

More than 99 million shares worth VND2.4 trillion were exchanged here. Foreign investors were net sellers here, however, for a net value of nearly VND23 billion. — VNS