Local stocks advanced slightly in the early session as rising crude prices lifted energy firms. — Photo pvdtraining.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese shares struggled to rise in the early session with energy stocks lifting the market.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched up 0.1 per cent to close at 665.08 points.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange edged up 0.2 per cent to end at 84.32 points.

Oil stocks such as PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corp (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp (PVS) recovered after crude prices increased for a third day.

London-traded Brent crude was being traded at US$47.71 per barrel, up 0.2 per cent from Monday. Brent has climbed 5 per cent since last Thursday.

GAS was up 0.8 per cent, PVD added 1.9 per cent and PVS gained 1 per cent.

Large-cap stocks recovered slightly to breathe some life into the market. These included property developer Vingroup JSC (VIC), consumer goods producer Masan Group (MSN) and Vietinbank (CTG).

However, dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM) and Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID) remained in the negative territory, while insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Vietcombank (VCB) stayed flat.

Steel producer Hoa Phat Group (HPG) was the most active stock on the market with nearly 2.1 million shares traded. HPG rose 1.4 per cent in the early session.

Investors exchanged more than 76 million shares worth VND1.45 trillion ($64.47 million). — VNS