The market ended higher on Thursday, boosted by strong gains in many sectors, especially energy stocks with many ticker symbols hitting ceiling prices.
On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market benchmark VN-Index settled higher, ending its four-day losing streak. The index surged 19.61 points, or 1.68 per cent, to 1,188.88 points.
The market's breadth returned to a positive zone with 318 stocks gaining points, of which 50 stocks hit the biggest daily increase of 7 per cent, while 153 stocks declined.
However, liquidity remained at a low level, of which the matching value on the southern bourse was just VND8.86 trillion (US$381 million), equal to a matching volume of 380 million shares.
The index's reversal was driven by the improvement of risk appetite. The VN30-Index rose 13.41 points, or 1.09 per cent, to 1,240.58 points.
Twenty of the 30 biggest stocks in the VN30 basket inched higher on Thursday, of which two stocks registered the maximum intraday gain of 7 per cent, while only nine stocks dipped. And one stock stayed flat.
The northern market's benchmark HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) extended rallies as it closed the trading day at 277.18 points, an increase of 7.79 points, or 2.89 per cent.
During the session, nearly 60.1 million shares were traded on HNX, worth VND1.3 trillion.
Data compiled by vietstock.vn showed that PV Gas (GAS) was the biggest gainer on Thursday, up 5.04 per cent. It was followed by Vietinbank (CTG), Masan Group (MSN), Techcombank (TCB), Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) and Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR). The stocks added up at least 3 per cent, with CTG up 7 per cent.
Other energy stocks supporting the uptrend were PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietNam Chemical, PV POW (POW) And Services Joint Stock Corporation (PVC) and PV Drilling (PVD), with all hitting ceiling prices.
The real estate sector also witnessed a strong recovery, of which C.E.O Group JSC (CEO), Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG), Ocean Group Joint Stock Company (OGC), Dat Xanh Group (DXG) and Ha Do Group (HDG) jumped at least 6 per cent.
Foreign investors were net buyers on the southern market after net buying a value of VND352.6 billion. However, they net sold a small amount of VND822.8 million on HNX. — VNS