Shares rose towards the end of Wednesday’s session as investors snapped up opportunities as positive first-half earnings reports came in.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange advanced 2.29 per cent to close at 942.39 points. The southern market index has expanded over 5.4 per cent since July 12.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also rose 2 per cent to end the trade at 106.93 points. The northern market index has gained 8.5 per cent in the last five sessions.

A total of 272.7 million shares worth a combined VND5.64 trillion (US$245.3 million) were traded in the two markets, up over 33 per cent in both volume and value compared to the previous session.

Large-cap stocks continued to lead the market.

Twenty-four of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the main bourse in HCM City increased and only four declined. This figures on the Ha Noi bourse were 22 gainers and one losers.

Banks remained the biggest gainers.

Ten of 11 listed banks on the two exchanges gained value and only one (Eximbank) closed unchanged.

BIDV (BID) and HDBank (HDB) were the leading stocks, with each rising over 5 per cent. Other big lenders including Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), Techcombank (TCB), Military Bank (MBB) and Sacombank (STB) rose between 3-4 per cent.

“The short-term uptrend is confirmed with banks playing the leading roles,” said Khai Tran, an analyst at Viet Dragon Securities Co, in its daily report.

Khai said the increase in liquidity showed that inflows have become stronger and focused on stocks with good business results, but their prices have declined significantly recently.

Many banks have reported positive earnings for the first half of this year, including Vietcombank, Vietinbank, TPBank and Military Bank. The six-month profit of Military Bank even exceeded their annual target by over 5 per cent.

“This trend is likely to continue as the second quarter’s earnings announcement is near,” Khai said.

Besides banks, many leading companies in their industries climbed strongly on earning expectations.

Steelmaker Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp (REE) both hit the maximum growth of 7 per cent on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. PV Gas (GAS) and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) also leaped over 5 per cent each.

Foreign investors were mixed on the two bourses. They were net sellers for total value of nearly VND151 billion in HCM City but were net buyers with total buy value of VND18 billion in Ha Noi. — VNS