Vietnamese shares rebounded on Friday morning as investors began bargain hunting, but the growth seemed unsustainable towards the afternoon session.

The benchmark VN Index on HCM Stock Exchange was up 0.48 per cent to close at 1,099.91 points. It had fallen by 5.1 per cent in the previous two sessions and dropped as much as 1.51 per cent in the morning session.

The HNX Index on Ha Noi Stock Exchange rose 0.43 per cent to end at 131.61 points, recovering from a two-day decline of nearly 2.4 per cent.

The market trading condition was balanced, with 201 gaining stocks, 198 decliners and 110 stocks ending flat.

More than 162.6 million shares, worth VND6.64 trillion (US$295.2 million), were traded on the two local exchanges.

Strong bargain hunting for stocks by investors, which had fallen sharply in the previous two sessions, helped pick up shares in 13 of the 20 sectors on the stock market.

Large-cap stock in the VN30 Index was also lifted by strong purchasing power, going up 0.52 per cent to 1,071.66 points, with 24 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation advancing.

Among the 20 sectors, the banking-finance sector was among those posting the highest growth of share prices. Indices of the insurance, banking and brokerage sectors were up by at least one per cent each.

The financial-banking stocks where prices drove up included Vietinbank, Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam, Vietcombank, Bao Viet Holdings, Saigon Securities Inc. and IB Securities Co.

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market added 0.20 per cent to 57.92 points, up from its previous two-session fall of 2.6 per cent.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS