Shares advanced further on Monday morning, driven by securities companies and real estate firms.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange added 0.46 per cent to close at 939.91 points. It gained total 5 per cent last week.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange rose 1.37 per cent to end at 112.35 points, extending its growth from last week’s increase of 2.3 per cent.

More than 207.4 million shares were traded on both local bourses, worth VND3.93 trillion (US$174.8 million).

Gaining stocks outnumbered losing stocks by 261 to 185 on the two local exchanges and 93 others closed unchanged.

Shares of securities firms and property developers took turns to lift the market with strong gains seen in Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities (SHS), MB Securities (MBS), VNDirect Securities (VND) and Tan Tao Investment and Industry Corp (ITA), as well as Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG) and Dream House Investment Corp (DRH).

They were followed by insurance-finance companies, energy firms and rubber producers.

On the opposite side, strong divergence was witnessed in large-cap stocks, which prevented the market from climbing higher.

Seventeen of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation on the VN30 Index made gains while 11 declined.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS