Blue chips drive VN-Index to fourth straight gaining session

After surging 2.41 percent on Wednesday with liquidity at over VND6 trillion ($256.17 million), the highest trading volume in the past month, VN-Index continued to see strong growth Thursday though total trading volume slumped to only VND4.3 trillion ($183.6 million), slightly above last month’s average.

215 stocks gained while 130 lost on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which VN-Index is based. VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 biggest capped stocks rose even further by 1.93 percent, with 26 stocks in the green and three in the red.

The biggest contributors to VN-Index this session included stocks of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned banks and SAB of major brewer Sabeco, which led gains this session having risen 7 percent to hit ceiling price.

The three aforementioned banks altogether added 3.45 points to the index, according to data from brokerage VNDIRECT, with BID of BIDV surging 4.3 percent, VCB of Vietcombank adding 3.1 percent, and CTG of VietinBank rising 1 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, and VHM of its real estate subsidiary Vinhomes, the first and third biggest capped tickers on HoSE, added 1.1 percent and 0.9 percent, while VRE of Vingroup’s retail subsidiary Vincom Retail shed 0.8 percent.

Other major gainers this session included HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, up 6.3 percent, CTD of construction giant Coteccons, up 2.8 percent, VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, up 2.8 percent, and VPB of private lender VPBank with 2.6 percent.

Oil and gas stocks were some of the lesser gainers this session, with GAS of energy firm PetroVietnam Gas and PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex edging up 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent respectively, while POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power gained 2.5 percent.

In the opposite direction, ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros topped losses with 1.1 percent, while HDB of private lender HDBank shed 0.5 percent. Being the smallest cap on VN30-Index, ROS was also one of the most volatile, fluctuating between floor to ceiling in over half of its trading sessions.

Meanwhile, HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, added 1.55 percent, while UPCoM-Index for stocks on Unlisted Public Companies Market nudged up 0.06 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers on all three bourses to the tune of VND117 billion ($4.99 milllion) this session.