Viet Nam’s benchmark VN Index hit a new record-high on Monday as investors remained confident following the latest updates to the country’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).

The VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange gained 1.89 per cent to close at 1,196.61 points, a new all-time high. The VN Index hit its previous record high of 1,174.46 points on March 30.

The southern market index rose a total of 2.5 per cent in the last two sessions. It gained a total of 1.8 per cent last week.

More than 245.7 million shares were traded on the southern exchange, worth VND8 trillion (US$357.3 million).

The market trading condition was quite balanced with 155 gaining stocks, 140 declining ones and 43 others ending flat.

Large-cap stocks extended their strong performance to boost the large-cap VN30 Index up 1.57 per cent to 1,171.21 points at the end of the day with two-thirds of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket advancing.

Shares of banks, securities firms and property developers achieved good growth rates. The three sector indices jumped at least 4 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

The strongest gainers included FLC Faros Construction (ROS), Vietcombank (VCB), property developer Vingroup (VIC), Vietinbank (CTG), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and Binh Minh Plastic JSC (BMP). All grew at least 3.2 per cent.

According to Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC), investor confidence was positive after the latest reports from Nikkei and IHS Markit early on Monday showed “new order growth remains solid despite easing in March.”

Viet Nam’s PMI dropped to 51.6 in March from February’s 10-month high of 53.5, the weakest figure since November 2017. Even so, a PMI above 50 signals a healthy overall economy, so investors reacted favourably.

“The Vietnamese manufacturing sector saw a softer expansion, particularly with regard to output. New orders continued to rise solidly amid a strong export performance, providing some optimism that output will continue to rise in the near future,” said Andrew Harker, Associate Director at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey.

In addition, investor confidence was bolstered after global markets remained steady amid rising tension between the US and China after the Chinese government imposed a 25 per cent tax worth $3 billion, higher than the previously announced 15 per cent, on 128 US imports (including pork, wine and some fruits), BVSC said in its daily report.

The global market reacted calmly against China’s latest action as it had been widely expected widely and a trade war between the two biggest economies is still considered unlikely, BVSC said.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index advanced 2.22 per cent to end at 135.40 points, extending its growth after a 0.44 per cent increase on Friday.

More than 52 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND937.5 billion.

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) was up 0.42 per cent to finish at 60.92 points. It has logged a total three-day rise of nearly 2 per cent. — VNS