VN stocks end mixed on August 12. — VNS Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub) – Vietnamese shares ended mixed in the early trading session, while dairy firm Vinamilk's share hit a high.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up 0.2 per cent to close at 661.60 points.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange fell 0.3 per cent to end at 82.97 points.

Dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM) rose 1.8 per cent to reach a new market price high of VND172,000, after it was added to the MSCI Frontier Markets Index's investment portfolio early in the morning.

Energy stocks made large gains as crude prices bounced back strongly on Thursday and continued to rise during the early session.

Among energy stocks, PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corp (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp (PVS) advanced between 2.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent.

Steel producers, such as Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), continued to rise after a recent report by the steel producers association posted higher July sales over last year's figure.

However, stocks such as banks and real estate firms that had risen in previous sessions suffered from profit-taking activity.

Investors exchanged more than 97 million shares, worth VND1.84 trillion (US$82 million). – VNS