Shares continued their uptrend on Thursday and are on track to set a weekly gain, boosted by higher liquidity and recent positive news.

The market's benchmark on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose 6.77 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 1,055.95 points. It extended the recent rally trend to the fourth straight session.

The breadth was positive with 216 stocks gaining points, while 101 ticker symbols declined. Liquidity also improved, of which the trading value on the southern bourse increased by 26.2 per cent over the previous session to nearly VND10.73 trillion (US$452.5 million). The value was equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 509 million shares.

The VN30-Index finished the trading day at 1,050.28 points, a rise of 9.69 points, or 0.93 per cent. Nineteen of the 30 biggest stocks in the VN30 basket reported bullish performance, while five stocks hit lower and six were flat.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the southern market's benchmark index also edged higher for the fourth session in a row. Accordingly, it closed Thursday at 209.03 points, up 0.35 points, or 0.17 per cent.

During the session, nearly 57 million shares were traded on HNX, worth VND877.04 billion.

Leading the bullish trend were banking and manufacturing stocks. Specifically, Vietcombank (VCB) was the biggest gainer with an increase of 0.87 per cent in market capitalisation. It was followed by Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) and Sacombank (STB), up 4.48 per cent and 4.54 per cent, respectively.

Aviation stocks got a boost on Thursday after China added Viet Nam to the list of countries approved for outbound tours, starting from March 15. Shares of Vietjet Aviation (VJC) soared 3.56 per cent, while Vietnam Airlines (HVN) logged the maximum intraday gain of 7 per cent.

Also supporting the market's uptrend, pillar stocks including Techcombank (TCB), PV Gas (PVG), FPT Corporation (FPT), Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB), and Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), witnessed strong rallies, up in a range of 0.85-2.42 per cent.

The market's sentiment was lifted this week after the Government issued a decree to strengthen the bond market, and the Fubon ETF fund plans to disburse capital into the Vietnamese market.

Foreign investors continued to inject capital into the market on Thursday, supporting the rally trend. Of which, they net bought VND192.61 billion on HoSE and VND4.93 billion on HNX. — VNS