Vietnamese shares edged up on Thursday with the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) hitting a new high.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.59 per cent to close at 993.60 points.

The VN-Index has rallied total 1.02 per cent in the last three trading days.

Brokerage, retail, banking, technology and banking sectors were the driving factors of the market on Thursday.

In the banking sector, Vietcombank shares rose 1.9 per cent to close at VND86,900 per share. It is the highest value since the bank’s debut on August 5, 2009.

Other bank stocks such as Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Vietinbank (CTG) and HDBank (HDB) also advanced.

Retail and technology sectors were the two strongest gaining industries, whose indices soared 3.2 per cent and 2.8 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

The two largest companies in the sectors – digital retailer Mobile World Investment Corp (MWG) and tech group FPT Corp (FPT) – jumped 3.5 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.

FPT Corp has recently announced its third-quarter earnings, which rose 17.7 per cent year on year in revenue and 30.2 per cent year on year in pre-tax profit.

In the first nine months, FPT recorded total revenue and pre-tax profit gained 20.5 per cent and 28.1 per cent yearly.

Expectations for improved earnings at Mobile World Investment Corp boosted the firm’s shares.

The company in September announced its total revenue in eight-month period gained 17 per cent year on year and post-tax profit was up more than a third in the same period.

Other large-cap stocks also increased to lift the market, including SSI Securities Corp (SSI), realty firm Vincom Retail (VRE), PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) and Phu Nhuan Jewellery JSC (PNJ).

Though the VN-Index gained for three consecutive days with the help of large-caps, investors were still cautious as trading liquidity remained low, Thanh Cong Securities Co (TCSC) said in a daily report.

More than 160 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND3.66 trillion (US$157.4 million).

The figures were little changed from Wednesday.

What could drive the market up further is improved trading liquidity, Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities Co (SHS) said in a note.

The VN-Index is forecast to struggle in the 1,000-1,005 point zone over the coming days.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 0.49 per cent to end Thursday at 104.64 points.

The northern market index fell 0.34 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 20 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND204.5 billion. — VNS