Shares were mixed on Monday as the rising selling force in the late session caused big falls in realty stocks.
The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) pared the morning gains to close the trading day at 1,290.01 points, up 2.03 points, or 0.16 per cent.
It rose nearly 11 points earlier in the day to inch closer to the 1,300 threshold.
The market’s breadth was negative as 315 stocks declined with 18 stocks hitting floor prices, while only 141 stocks increased.
Liquidity rose sharply over the previous session, of which over 589.8 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth more than VND16.9 trillion (US$730.7 million).
The index gained slightly despite losses of the 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index on strong rallies in some pillar stocks.
The VN30-Index posted a dip of 0.36 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 1,327.04 points.
Leading the upside was an oil stock - PV Gas, thanks to rising oil crude prices in the international market. PV Gas shares jumped nearly 4.6 per cent yesterday to VND129,900 per share.
On the future market, Brent oil climbed above $120 a barrel on Monday after Saudi Arabia raised prices for its crude sales in July.
Other energies and oil stocks contributing to the rally trend were Petrolimex (PLX), PV Power (POW), Petrovietnam Fertiliser & Chemicals Corporation (DPM), and Petro Viet Nam Ca Mau Fertiliser JSC (DCM). The stocks were up at least 2 per cent yesterday.
The bullish sentiment was also supported by big stocks including Vietcombank (VCB) up 2.84 per cent, Masan Group (MSN) up 3.72 per cent, and Sabeco (SAB) rose 2.13 per cent.
However, gains were capped by stronger selling pressure, mostly in the real estate sector. Of which, Novaland (NVL) reported the biggest loss, down 1.55 per cent. It was followed by Becamex (BCM) and Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG), with DIG registering the maximum intraday loss of 7 per cent.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index extended its losing streak and fell for the fourth straight session. It ended the day at 306.81 points, down 3.67 points, or 1.18 per cent.
During the trading day, more than VND1.87 trillion was poured into HNX, equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 86 million shares.
Meanwhile, foreign investors were net buyers of the market after net bought VND13.13 billion. Of which, they net bought VND53.36 billion on HoSE, while net sold a value of VND41.23 billion on the northern bourse. — VNS