Shares settled higher on Wednesday as the return of investors' risk appetite pushed the general sentiment on the market. Foreign investments also came back with a net buy volume of more than VND1 trillion (US$44.8 million).

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose to the highest level since 2000, when the market was established, and broke over the key level of 1,400 points.

It surged 31.30 points, or 2.26 per cent, to 1,423.02 points. The index rose more than 18 points this morning.

The market's breadth was positive, with the liquidity rising sharply. The total trading value on the stock market was over VND30.4 trillion, up 29.7 per cent compared to yesterday. Of which, the trading value on HoSE jumped 28 per cent to VND25 trillion.

The index's strong rally was boosted by gains in many large-cap stocks across all sectors on rising risk appetite. The 30 biggest stocks VN30-Index climbed 33.84 points, or 2.28 per cent, to 1,516.46 points, with all stocks witnessing gains in the afternoon session.

Data compiled by vietstock.vn showed that PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) was the biggest gainer yesterday, with the shares hitting the maximum daily gain of 7 per cent.

Other big stocks supporting the market were in real estate, manufacturing and bank stocks, including Vingroup (VIC), Vinhomes, (VHM), Masan Group (MSN), Vietcombank (VCB), and Hoa Phat Group (HPG). These stocks all posted gains of more than 2 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also inched higher on large-cap stocks. It ended yesterday's trade at 404.37 points, up 6.56 points, or 1.65 per cent.

During the session, over 152.3 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND4.1 trillion.

Meanwhile, foreign investors were net buyer on the market, with a total value of VND973.39 billion. Of which, they net bought a value of VND1.02 trillion on HoSE, but net sold a value of VND47.39 billion on HNX. — VNS