Local shares continued rising in the early session as expectations on positive market prospects boosted market demand. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Shares extended gains this morning on the two markets, propped up by confectionery firm Kinh Do Corp (KDC) and stronger demand driven by positive market prospects.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange added 0.3 per cent to close at 661.7 points.

More than half of the top 30 shares by market capitalisation advanced, particularly Kinh Do Corp that hit the daily rise limit of seven per cent.

Other large-cap stocks such as dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), insurance firm Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Vietcombank (VCB) and steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG) also rose substantially.

On the other end of the spectrum, oil and gas shares declined after several consecutive sessions of increasing value.

PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) dropped by more than one per cent, while others such as PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling Mud (PVC) and Petroleum Equipment Assembly and Metal Structure were each down by less than one per cent.

On the smaller market in Ha Noi, the HNX-Index rose 0.4 per cent to end at 83.5 points.

Nearly 30 per cent of the total 688 stocks on the two markets advanced, while more than 24 per cent fell.

About 102 million shares worth a combined VND2 trillion (US$90 million) were traded on the two exchanges by the end of the morning.

The afternoon session starts at 1pm. — VNS