Vietnamese shares rebounded on Thursday as fears over a US-EU trade war eased and a foreign net purchase of local blue chips cushioned the market.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange gained 0.28 per cent to close at 930.16 points, recovering from a two-day fall of nearly 1 per cent.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange advanced 0.96 per cent to end at 104.58 points. It had dropped total 3.75 per cent in the previous three sessions.

Both local market indices bounced back strongly after they was pushed down in the morning session. The VN Index fell as much as 0.71 per cent while the figure for HNX Index was 3.63 per cent.

More than 239.6 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VND4.18 trillion (US$185.8 million).

Trading figures on Thursday were down 14.4 per cent in volume and 17.6 per cent in value compared to the previous session.

According to Bao Viet Securities JSC (BVSC), the VN Index dipped most during the trading session but managed to end in the positive territory “thanks to strong buying demand towards the final minutes.”

The rebound of the stock market may have came after worries among investors regarding the trade tensions between the US and the EU eased.

Large-cap stocks benefited the most from improved investor confidence as the blue chip VN30 Index was up 0.62 per cent to 921.33 points at the end of the day.

The VN30 basket, covering the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation, saw 14 stocks increase while 12 stocks ended in negative territory.

Gainers in the VN30 basket included Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), property developers Novaland (NVL) and Vingroup (VIC), steel producer Hoa Phat (HPG), dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), Vietcombank (VCB) and MBBank (MBB).

Those blue chips advanced between 0.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent. HPG rose 2.8 per cent following the news that Hoa Phat will not be applied with a quota or tariff for its exported products to the European market.

Net foreign purchase was another factor that supported the market’s overall sentiment, BVSC said in its daily report.

Foreign investors on Thursday net-bought VND51.2 billion after net-selling a total of VND538.8 billion in the previous two sessions.

The Ha Noi-based securities firm said that weak liquidity may remain as an obstacle for the market to rise further as it indicated caution among investors about the market’s unfavourable correction.

“Cash inflows continued to alternately run into different groups of stocks,” BVSC said, adding “the VN Index is forecast to keep moving in a narrow range with alternate ups and downs” in the next sessions. — VNS