Shares ended the week in the green with the VN-Index rising 0.36 per cent to close Friday at 1,060.17 points.

The southern market’s index gained 0.8 per cent this week.

The market breadth was negative, however, with 215 stocks falling, 174 rising and 176 closing flat.

Liquidity surpassed the VND10 trillion level, reaching VND12.4 trillion (US$525.4 million) equivalent to 670 million shares traded, up 42.5 per cent in value and 32.4 per cent in volume compared to Thursday’s levels.

Cash was poured into the financial sector with six of the top 10 shares lifting the VN-Index most being banks’ shares.

VPBank (VPB) and Vietcombank (VCB) topped the list with respective growth of 3.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent. Others included BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Eximbank (EIB) and Sacombank (STB) with increases of between 0.7 per cent and 3 per cent.

Shares in the beverage sector also performed well with the two leading companies – Vinamilk (VNM) and Sabeco (SAB) – growing 0.8 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively.

On the dark side, property developer No Va Land Investment Group (NVL), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Vietjet (VJC) topped the group of shares dragging the market most. NVL plummeted by 4.4 per cent while ACB and VJC slipped by more than 1 per cent each.

According to Bao Viet Securities Co, the market is likely to continue to move sideways in a narrow range with strong divergence among stock groups towards the Lunar New Year holiday.

“We maintain the view that this period is suitable for short-term trading activities or accumulation of stocks with low valuation when strong corrections occur,” said Tran Van Bach, a market analyst at Bao Viet Securities Co.

He reckoned cash flow will tend to circulate among sectors including banking, securities, public investment and electricity.

By contrast, the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange slipped 0.32 per cent after a three-day rally, closing at 211.26 points.

Liquidity decreased slightly to 64.5 million shares worth VND879 billion.

Foreign traders unexpectedly were net sellers in HCM City’s market after many net-buying sessions. They were responsible for a net sell value of VND3.04 trillion but their sales focused on Eximbank (EIB) with net value of VND3.4 trillion. Thus, excluding trading in Eximbank, foreigners were still net buyers for VND356 billion. They were also net buyers on the Ha Noi bourse with a net value of over VND28 billion. — VNS