Blue chips lift VN-Index to sixth straight gaining session

246 stocks gained while 119 lost on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based. Liquidity remained high at VND6.25 trillion ($267 million), far above last month’s average trading volume of VND4.2 trillion ($179.43 million) per session.

The VN30-Index for HoSE’s 30 largest caps surged 2.23 percent, with 27 gainers and just two losers.

TCB of private lender Techcombank continued to lead gains with 6.9 percent, the second consecutive session it hit the ceiling price, the highest a stock can go in a trading session.

It was followed by VPB of private VPBank, which surged 5.7 percent, GAS of energy giant Petrovietnam Gas, 4.9 percent, and SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., 4.8 percent.

VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, HoSE’s third largest cap, rose 3.7 percent. VRE of Vinhomes’ sister retail corporation also rose 0.6 percent, but VIC of parent Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, kept its opening price.

Other major gaining blue chips this session included MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, up 3.4 percent, VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, 3.3 percent, PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, 2.6 percent, and HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, 2.4 percent.

All the remaining tickers in green added less than 2 percent. Of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned banks by assets, CTG of VietinBank, VCB of Vietcombank, and BID of BIDV, added 1.7 percent, 1.4 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.

The only two VN-30 tickers that fell this session were ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros, down 1.4 percent, and VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, down 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, added 1.41 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for stocks on Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 1.10 percent.

After net buying for one session last Friday to end a streak of 26 consecutive net selling sessions, foreign investors returned to being net sellers on all three exchanges to the tune of VND398 billion ($17 million).