Vietnamese shares gained slightly on Friday morning, driven by large-cap stocks amid weak trading liquidity.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched up 0.08 per cent to close at 958.93 points. It had lost total 4 per cent in the previous four sessions.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange was up 0.06 per cent to end at 110.54 points. It was flat on Thursday.

More than 115.4 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VND1.9 trillion (US$85 million).

The large-cap VN30 Index gained 0.18 per cent to stand at 933.81 points with half of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation advancing.

Among gainers were dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), Sacombank (STB), Vietcombank (VCB), Vincom Retail (VRE) and steel producer Hoa Phat (HPG).

On a sector basis, banking and insurance companies were the main driving factors for the stock market on Friday morning.

The two industry indices were up 0.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively.

Other sectors that also performed well included rubber and plastic production, food and beverages, and pharmaceuticals.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS