Stocks close week in green

The index closed 2.61 points higher after gaining 27.12 points in the previous session.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 16% to VND17.659 trillion (US$695.6 million).

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 13 tickers gained.

SSI of brokerage SSI Securities Corporation went up 2.5%, VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup rose 2.4%, and GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group closed 2.2% higher.

Seventeen blue chips fell. SHB of Saigon Hanoi Commercial Bank went down 1.4%, TPB of private TPBank slid 1.2%, and BCM of Becamex Investment and Industrial Development dropped 1.0%.

Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND358 billion, mainly buying TCB of private lender Techcombank and SSI.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.29%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went down 0.17%.

Globally, most Asian shares fell on Friday as political ructions in South Korea weighed on sentiment, Reuters reported.

Chinese shares, however, climbed to three-week highs as investors scooped up technology shares ahead of a top-level policy meeting next week that will set the agenda and targets for China's economy next year.

In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reversed earlier losses to be up 0.2% thanks to the rally in Chinese shares.

Both China's blue chips and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.3%, the outperformers in the region.

Fears about a second martial law declaration sent the Korean won tumbling as much as 1% and the KOSPI down 1.8%. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.9% but is up 2.2% for the week.