Shares rose on Thursday morning with the two main stock indices rising, largely on the strength of a handful of banking blue-chips.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange climbed 0.99 per cent to close the morning session at 790.37 points.

The index had gained 2.41 per cent to end Wednesday at 782.59 points, the best daily increase since March 25.

Nearly 133 million shares were traded on the southern exchange for VND2.3 trillion (US$98.2 million).

The market breadth was positive as gainers outnumbered decliners by 171 to 151.

Banking stocks outperformed with Vietcombank (VCB) increasing by 2.7 per cent to VND69,400 per share, Bank for Investment and Development (BID) rising by 3.2 per cent to VND37,150 per share. Other codes in the industry such as Military bank (MBB), Vietinbank (CTG) and VPBank (VPB) also gained.

Retail, healthcare, insurance, real estate, food and beverage, construction materials and securities were among the gainers.

The sector indices gained between 0.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

Wholesale, information and technology, oil and gas, agriculture and rubber production lost ground.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and liquidity on HoSE, increased 0.95 per cent to close at 732.86 points.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 0.60 per cent to end Thursday morning at 107.30 points.

Nearly 22.9 million shares were traded on the northern bourse for VND206.3 billion.

The northern market index had gained 1.18 per cent to close Wednesday at 106.66 points. — VNS