Vietnamese shares gained strongly on Friday morning but investors continued to remain cautious fearing another bull trap.

The benchmark VN Index on HCM Stock Exchange was up 0.73 per cent to close at 1,052.49 points. It had tumbled 3.32 per cent on Thursday.

The HNX Index on Ha Noi Stock Exchange rose 2.21 per cent to end at 122.77 points, recovering from the previous fall of 4.9 per cent.

The market trading condition was positive, with 218 gaining stocks, 181 decliners and 343 stocks ending flat.

More than 139 million shares, worth VND3.9 trillion (US$171.2 million), were traded on the two local exchanges.

Large-cap stock in the VN30 Index was also lifted by strong purchasing power, going up 0.68 per cent to 1,025.88 points, with 20 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation advancing.

Among the 20 sectors, banking and finance were among those posting the highest growth of share prices. Indices of the insurance, banking and brokerage sectors were up by at least 1.8 per cent each.

The financial-banking stocks where prices drove up included Vietinbank (CTG), Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), Vietcombank (VCB), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and IB Securities Co (VIX).

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market added 1 per cent to reach 56.25 points.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS