Shares recovered on Thursday morning, driven by bank and brokerage companies.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange gained 0.69 per cent to close at 809.28 points.

The southern market index had lost a total of 0.4 per cent in the previous three sessions.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange inched up 0.12 per cent to end at 107.65 points.

The northern market index was down 0.3 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 133.8 million shares were traded on Friday morning, worth VND2.38 trillion (US$105.7 million).

Shares of banks and brokerage firms performed well in the morning session.

The banking sector was lifted by Sacombank (HOSE: STB), which jumped 4.5 per cent.

According to Sacombank chairman, Duong Cong Minh, the bank will sell at least VND1 trillion worth of bad debts to the Vietnam Asset Management Company in 2017.

The positive news from Sacombank also made a good impact on other bank stocks such as BIDV (HOSE: BID), Asia Commercial Bank (HNX: ACB) and Vietcombank (HOSE: VCB).

Among brokerage firms that saw a good performance were Viet Dragon Securities (HOSE: VDS), Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities (HNX: SHS) and Bao Viet Securities (HNX: BVS).

Other large-cap stocks that recovered included FLC Faros Construction (HOSE: ROS), brewer Sabeco (HOSE: SAB) and consumer goods producer Masan Group (HOSE: MSN).

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS