Vietnamese shares extended gains on Thursday morning, driven by the agriculture sector following Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s deal with Truong Hai Automobile JSC (Thaco).

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched up 0.10 per cent to close at 967.28 points. It gained nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange was up 0.39 per cent to end at 108.09 points, expanding a two-day increase to gain a total of 1.96 per cent.

More than 127.6 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges worth VND2.9 trillion (US$128.3 million).

Agriculture was the major driving force of the stock market in the morning session after conglomerate Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) and Thaco on Wednesday signed a deal in which Thaco bought 30 per cent of HAGL’s sub-unit HAGL Agrico (HNG) and a part of HAGL’s real estate project in Myanmar for total VND7.8 trillion.

In addition, Thaco committed to help HAGL restructure its debts worth VND14 trillion.

The news helped HAGL shares, listed on the HCM Stock Exchange as HAG, soar 6.9 per cent. Meanwhile, HAGL Agrico (HNG) ended flat in the morning.

The agriculture sector index rose 1.9 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Other sectors that also performed well included insurance, securities, food and beverage, and banking.

The rise of securities firms was attributed to positive developments of the stock market in the last month, which is expected to help those firms increase their earnings in the second half of the year.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS