Shares rose on both local exchanges on Thursday morning with modest market liquidity, driven by dairy producer Vinamilk. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Shares rose on both local exchanges on Thursday morning with modest market liquidity, driven by dairy producer Vinamilk.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up 0.3 per cent to close at 665.14 points, while the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange gained 0.5 per cent to end at 79.43 points.

Market liquidity was low as the year is drawing to an end. More than 75 million shares worth around VND1.2 trillion (US$53 million) were traded on Thursday morning.

Dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), the largest company by market capitalisation, played a major role in pushing the stock markets forward, shooting up by 2.2 per cent and making a three-day gain of 5.1 per cent. That gain is probably the result of F&N Dairy Investment registering to buy 21 million Vinamilk shares between December 30 and January 27.

Other blue chips such as Faros Construction Corp (ROS), property developer and retailer Vingroup (VIC) and PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) also advanced.

Among mid-cap and small-cap stocks, Ocean Group JSC (OGC), FLC Group (FLC) and Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate Corporation (HQC) continued to rise, but their growth was lower than in the previous few days. These three stocks were the most active on the stock market, with 7.7 million, 6.7 million and 5.8 million of their shares being traded, respectively.

On the other side, real estate dealer Novaland Investment Group Corp (NVL) slumped 1.7 per cent, while Sai Gon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corp (SAB) declined 1 per cent, restraining the market from rising higher. — VNS