At Vietcombank Tower in HCM City. VCB shares led the market on Wednesday. — Photo courtesy of Vietcombank

Shares rallied on Wednesday as the recovery of large-cap stocks helped the VN-Index regain 6.45 points after the previous session's slight decline, while foreign investors extended their net buying streak for the third day.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 6.45 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close the trading session at 1,251.51 points.

The market's breadth was negative as the number of decliners surpassed gainers by 181 to 135. Liquidity on the southern bourse increased significantly by 27.9 per cent to VNĐ17.6 trillion (US$701 million), equivalent to a trading volume of 748 million shares.

The 30 biggest stocks tracker, the VN30-Index, also rose significantly, up 11.27 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 1,299.09. Nineteen ticker symbols in the VN30 basket edged up, while nine inched down and two stocks ended flat.

Data compiled by the financial website vietstock.vn showed that the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB) was the biggest gainer on the market and led in terms of capitalisation. Shares of the lender rose 1.94 per cent, contributing more than 2.3 points to the VN-Index gain.

It was followed by Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (VNM), which rose 5.76 per cent. The positive performance of the dairy producer came after Vinamilk announced a substantial profit in its Q2 consolidated financial report.

However, some large-cap stocks faced strong sell-offs. Notably, Hòa Phát Group JSC (HPG) posted a decrease of 2.51 per cent, contributing to a loss of more than one point in the VN-Index. Following was Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN), with shares of the national airline dropping by the daily limit of 6.8 per cent, after three consecutive sessions of recovery.

According to analysts from Việt Dragon Securities, liquidity increased compared to the previous session, indicating a rise in supply, although it has not yet exerted significant pressure on the market. The supportive signals at the end of the session may help the market recover in the next trading session. However, the 1,250-point level is expected to continue exerting resistance on the market, therefore investors should remain cautious amid the market's instability and maintain a safe portfolio allocation.

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) index finished lower on Wednesday, down by 0.22 per cent to 235.36 points.

During the session, more than VNĐ1 trillion worth of shares were traded, equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 53 million shares on the northern market.

Foreign investors extended their net buying streak for a third consecutive day, with net purchases amounting to VNĐ604 billion on HoSE. — VNS