Novaland's building in An Phú Ward, District 2, HCM City. The company's shares rose the most yesterday, up nearly 2 per cent. Photo baodautu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares finished higher on Wednesday, but the gains were smaller on rising selling pressure.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the benchmark VN-Index increased slightly, expanding the rally to eight straight sessions. Accordingly, the index rose 2.3 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 1,334.74 points.

The market’s breadth was positive with 213 stocks climbing while 152 slid. But the liquidity was lower than Wednesday as 661.8 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ21.3 trillion (US$933.1 million). 

The index continued to receive support from some pillar stocks in real estate, utilities, banking and material sectors. The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index witnessed a small gain of 0.16 per cent, or 2.33 points, to 1,472.2 points. 

Of the top five stocks influencing the market’s trend, Novaland gained the most, up 1.9 per cent, followed by PetroVietnam Gas JSC (PVGas, GAS), up 1.08 per cent. 

Sacombank (STB) and MBBank (MBB) were two big banking names in the top five list, up 2.85 per cent and 1.37 per cent, respectively. And the last was Petrolimex (PLX), up 2.15 per cent. 

Other stocks like Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Corporation (SAB) and Hoà Phát Group (HPG) also contributed to the gains. 

The limited gain was due to spreading selling forces in large-cap stocks. 

Masan Group (MSN) posted the biggest losses Wednesday, down 1.31 per cent. The trio of Vin-family stocks, including Vingroup JSC (VIC), Vinhomes SJC (VHM) and Vincom Retail JSC (VRE), also plunged after big increases during Tuesday's trade. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index edged 0.28 per cent higher to close Wednesday's trade at 320.02 points. 

During the trading session, investors poured over VNĐ2.79 trillion into the northern market, equivalent to a trading volume of 120 million shares. 

The market move was inline with expectations from Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS). “The market is likely to struggle and fluctuate on the August 4 session,” the securities firm said. 

“The VN-Index’s support and resistance zones are 1,300 points and 1,350 points, respectively.”

Meanwhile, foreign investors were still flocking into the southern market, as they net bought a value of VNĐ829.79 billion. However, they net sold a value of VNĐ9.8 billion on HNX. VNS