The market was riding high yesterday as plastics product manufacturers did the heavy lifting.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index started off the afternoon above the baseline. It fluctuated on an upward trend and hit a peak at around 2:45 pm.

The index then fell slightly and levelled off in about 15 minutes. It ballooned to right below the previous peak in the last minutes, staying at 1,288.88 points, up 11.72 points (0.92 per cent) against the baseline.

The southern exchange saw advancers outnumber decliners by 203 to 133. Five stocks hit ceiling prices whereas two sat at the other end.

HoSE was hectic yesterday with 562 million shares traded on the exchange, equivalent to about VND13.7 trillion (US$584 million).

The VN30-Index echoed the VN-Index pattern with an increase of 15.14 points (1.17 per cent) to reach 1,311.55 points. In the basket, 26 stocks climbed, two stayed flat and two fell.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) did not follow the VN-Index pattern but rather an extended M pattern. It gained 0.56 points (0.19 per cent) to reach 301.86 points.

Vinhomes (VHM) was leading the market rally with a rise of 2.18 per cent. Other stocks supporting the bullish trend include Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Vingroup (VIC), VPBank (VPB) and VietinBank (CTG).

Plastics was the sector fuelling the pick-up with a sector-wide hike of 4.05 per cent. In the sector, Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) gained 5.38 per cent, followed by Duc Giang Chemicals (DGC) and PetroVietnam Fertiliser & Chemicals (DPM).

PST Service was the next sector that pushed indices up yesterday. It minted a gain of 3.25 per cent, with Power Engineering Consulting (TV2) and Hoang Minh Finance Investment (KPF) behind the gain.

In the realty sector, the trio stocks of the Vin family - Vingroup (VIC), Vincom (VRE) and Vinhomes (VHM) - lit up with a bright-green hue. The three saw their market-caps increase by 1.54 per cent, 2.1 per cent and 2.18 per cent respectively. Overall, the sector gained 8.67 points.

The banking sector also saw lots of green on the screen, resulting in a sector-wide rise of 0.8 per cent. However, two of the largest banks in the sector, Vietcombank (VCB) and BIDV (BID), remained unchanged in market cap. Notable gainers include VPBank (VPB), Techcombank (TCB) and VietinBank (CTG).

Foreign investors poured money into the market by net-purchasing a total of around VND87.38 billion worth of shares on the two exchanges. Of which, they net bought VND90.52 billion on HoSE and net sold VND3.14 billion on HNX. — VNS