Vietnamese shares advanced on Friday morning as investors switched attention to mid-cap and small-cap items.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange inched up 0.08 per cent to close at 939.28 points.

The VN-Index gained 1.36 per cent on Thursday.

Nearly 114 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND2.2 trillion (US$94.6 million).

The market breadth was positive with 183 gaining stocks and 142 decliners.

However, large-cap stocks were pulled down due to profit-taking pressure.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index slid 0.06 per cent to stand at 862.33 points at the end of the morning session.

Instead of large-cap stocks, investors sought opportunities in mid-cap and small-cap items.

The mid-cap and small-cap trackers VNMID-Index and VNSML-Index were up 0.23 per cent and 0.20 per cent, respectively.

Banking, real estate, retail, technology, agriculture, and mining and energy were among the sectors weighing down the market.

On the contrary, plastics and chemicals, food and beverage, seafood processing, construction and insurance helped boost the market.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell 0.58 per cent to end at 105.23 points.

The HNX-Index had made a three-day rally of total 4.47 per cent.

More than 20.5 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND217.5 billion.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS