VN-Index sustains upward trend, reaches 2-month high

The VN-Index, which represents almost 90 percent of the market capitalization of listed companies, rose by 6.29 points or 0.64 percent. There were 300 gainers and 287 losers. 

The VN30-Index, a basket of 30 stocks with the highest market cap, gained 9.98 points to close at 880.79 points. 

Four of the 30 stocks rose by over 2 percent, led by Vietcombank, one of Vietnam’s three biggest lenders by assets, up 2.6 percent, and Hau Giang Pharma, a leading drugmaker in which the government owns a 43.31 percent stake, up 2.5 percent.

The subsidiaries of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup all gained, Vincom Retail by 2.2 percent, Vinhomes by 1.8 percent and Vingroup itself by 1 percent. 

In the food and beverages sector, the country’s biggest dairy company, Vinamilk, rose by 1.8 percent, and food conglomerate Masan Group was up 2.5 percent. The banking sector saw most stocks rise by 1 percent.

The VN-Index was constrained by strong declines in oil, gas and steel stocks. The biggest losers were PetroVietnam Gas JSC, which was down 1.1 percent, and Hoa Phat Group, Vietnam’s biggest steelmaker, which lost 1.7 percent. 

Elsewhere, the HNX-Index in Hanoi closed 0.31 percent up while the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies gained 0.21 percent. 

The Vietnamese market mirrored the movements in the Asia Pacific, where all markets made strong gains after comments from a top U.S. Federal Reserve official cemented expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut later this month, fuelling an appetite for riskier assets and keeping a cap on the dollar, Reuters reported.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan added 2 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.79 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.03 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.35 percent higher.