Vietnamese shares rose on Wednesday, propped up by a slew of banking and energy stocks.
On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index increased 1.27 per cent, to 1,218.10 points.
The benchmark increased 1.46 per cent, to close Tuesday at 1,202.82 points.
More than 588.4 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, equivalent to VND14.4 trillion (US$619 million).
Market breadth was positive with 136 losers and 326 gainers.
Banking stocks were darlings of the market with gainers including Military Bank (MBB), Techcombank (TCB), Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), VietinBank (CTG), Viet Nam International Commercial JS Bank (VIB), Saigon-Hanoi Commercial JS Bank (SHB), Tien Phong Bank (TPB) and Vietcombank (VCB).
Energy stocks gained ground with gainers such as Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX), Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR), PV Power (POW), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) and Drilling Mud Joint Stock Corporation (PVC).
"Today's market rallied at the beginning of the session, closing more than 15 points higher than yesterday with improved volume," said BIDV Securities Co.
"Market breadth tilted to the positive side. Regarding the transactions of foreign investors, they net bought on both HoSE and HNX. If VN-Index can overcome the resistance level of 1,250 in the coming sessions, it is likely to return to conquer the gap of 1,260- 1,280 points," the company said.
The 30 biggest stock tracker VN30-Index increased 1.33 per cent, to end at 1,273.41 points.
Gainers in the VN-30 group were FPT Corporation (FPT), Masan Group (MSN), and Khang Dien House (KDH), Phu Nhuan Jewelry (PNJ), Phat Dat Real Estate (PDR), Sabeco (SAB), Vinhomes (VHM) and Mobile World Group (MWG).
In the basket, 23 stocks climbed, and five dropped.
On a sector basis, 20 out of 25 sector indices on the stock market gained ground, including insurance, oil and gas, banking, wholesale, construction, rubber production, IT and logistics, agriculture, real estate, food and beverage, retail and healthcare.
Losers, meanwhile, included seafood production, construction materials, securities, and plastic and chemical production.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index grew 1.23 per cent to end Wednesday at 283.87 points.
The northern market index had climbed 1.63 per cent to end Tuesday at 280.42 points.
Some 63.1 million shares were traded on the northern exchange, worth VND1.3 trillion. — VNS