The VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was up slightly on Friday morning, driven by steel producers and some large-cap stocks. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

The VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was up slightly on Friday morning, driven by steel producers and some large-cap stocks.

The benchmark index inched up 0.2 per cent to close at 724.91 points. It gained 0.5 per cent on Thursday.

More than 109 million shares were traded on the major bourse, worth VND1.9 trillion (US$83.53 million).

Steel stocks such as Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Nam Kim Steel (NKG) lifted the southern bourse thanks to information related to anti-dumping taxation on steel imports.

The new anti-dumping tax was imposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Thursday on imported steel products from China and South Korea.

HPG ended up 1.5 per cent on Friday morning, HSG increased by 0.5 per cent and NKG rose 2.9 per cent.

However, shares on the southern bourse narrowed their gains at the end of the morning session as other sectors performed below expectation.

Banks and financial companies fell as investors sought profits after the recent good run. Energy stocks were mixed, with PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) and PetroVietnam Mud Drilling Corp (PVC) in negative territory following the decline of global crude prices.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index fell 0.3 per cent to end at 90.87 points. The northern market index gained 0.5 per cent on Thursday.

Nearly 23.5 million shares were exchanged on Ha Noi’s market, worth VND286.68 billion. — VNS