Vietnamese shares moved up modestly on Thursday as some corporate news lifted market sentiment from overall caution ahead of the end of the year.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange inched up 0.12 per cent to close at 952.26 points.

The VN-Index had lost a total of 1.76 per cent in all four previous trading days.

Nearly 222.5 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND4.35 trillion (US$187.8 million).

The southern market was boosted by some large-cap shares following positive corporate news.

Vietcombank (VCB) shares gained 1.5 per cent on Thursday and a two-day total of 3.1 per cent after the bank announced on Wednesday that it would pay an 8 per cent cash dividend for 2018 results.

It means every shareholder will receive VND800 per share. Vietcombank is expected to spend VND2.97 trillion on the upcoming dividend payout, which is planned for January 15, 2020.

Steel maker Hoa Phat (HPG) rose 1.1 per cent on speculations that shareholders and investors received good news from the firm’s leaders at a meeting on Wednesday.

The National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam or PVN)’s listed members such as PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVD) advanced on their upbeat full-year earnings' estimates.

PetroVietnam Gas estimates its full-year revenue and pre-tax profit will beat the year’s targets by 20 per cent and 46 per cent. The figures are forecast to reach VND76.5 trillion and VND14 trillion, respectively.

Higher oil prices also bolstered investors’ confidence in PVN’s member company stocks. Brent crude was up 0.14 per cent to trade at $66.26 a barrel.

But the market condition was still negative as investors wanted to seek profits ahead of the year-end period.

The three indices VN30-Index, VNMID-Index and VNSML-Index fell between 0.11 per cent and 0.50 per cent.

On the southern bourse, 163 stocks declined while 147 stocks increased and 63 stocks were unchanged.

According to Thanh Cong Securities Co (TCSC), despite the market growth, investors were mainly cautious and that caution prevented the VN-Index from rising further.

The VN-Index would continue swinging in the remaining days of the year from 950 points to 960 points, TCSC forecast.

Companies such as banks, retailers and real estate firms would be attractive as they are about to reveal full-year earnings and hint at next year’s business plans, TCSC said.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was up 0.19 per cent to end at 102.00 points, recovering from a two-day loss of total 1.37 per cent.

More than 27 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND281 billion. — VNS