Vietnamese shares rose on Monday morning despite worries about the coronavirus spread. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Vietnamese shares soared on Monday morning, driven by the large-cap sector amid worries about the spread of the coronavirus.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange rose 1.41 per cent to end at 809.66 points.

The VN-Index lost total 3.7 per cent last week.

Blue chips boosted the market as the large-cap tracker VN30-Index advanced 1.72 per cent to 753.46 points.

Twenty-seven of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity in the blue-chip basket increased while only three declined.

Among the best gainers were steel producer Hoa Phat (HPG), consumer staples firm Masan (MSN), SSI Securities (SSI), VPBank (VPB), Petrolimex (PLX), Vincom Retail (VRE) and dairy company Vinamilk (VNM).

Positive market sentiment also helped lift smaller stocks.

The mid-cap and small-cap trackers VNMID and VNSML indices gained 1.44 per cent and 2.07 per cent, respectively.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was up 1.53 per cent to close Monday morning at 109.16 points.

The northern market index fell total 1.7 per cent last week.

More than 197.5 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VND2.96 trillion (US$127 million).

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS