Hòa Phát's galvanised steel production line in a factory in Hưng Yên Province. Hòa Phát's shares rose 2.2 per cent yesterday. —VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

HÀ NỘI — The VN-Index escaped from a fall after investors poured money into some heavyweight stocks, lifting the market.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index rose 0.45 per cent to close Tuesday at 1,391.63 points after trading below the reference threshold for most of the trading time.

Growth of Hòa Phát Group (HPG) was behind the market's rebound. The steelmaker’s shares climbed 2.2 per cent to end the day at VNĐ56,300 (US$2.45) a share, topping the shares affecting the VN-Index most. Last week, the company reported record profit of VNĐ10.35 trillion ($450 million) in the third quarter, 2.7 fold higher than the same period of last year.

Besides HPG, the top gainers in the VN30 basket included PV Gas (GAS), up 1.6 per cent; FPT Corp (FPT), up 2.1 per cent; and Military Bank (MBB), up 1.3 per cent.

In terms of sector, seafood processing companies enjoyed the highest growth with an average increase of 4.8 per cent, according to data on vietstock.vn. Advancers included Nam Việt Corp (ANV), Vĩnh Hoàn Corp (VHC), Sao Ta Foods (FMC), I.D.I International Development & Investment Corp (IDI) and Bến Tre Aquaproduct Import and Export (ABT) with growth of between 3.5 and 6.9 per cent each.

Securities sector was also among top gainers with average growth of 1.3 per cent. Big companies such as Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), Viet Capital Securities (VCI), Hồ Chí Minh Securities Corp (HCM) and VNDirect Securities (VND) increased between 1-2.2 per cent each.

Liquidity declined, however, with 748 million shares worth more than VNĐ21 trillion ($913 million) being traded on HCM City’s market, down 17 per cent in volume and 22.4 per cent in value compared to Monday’s figures.

According to analysts at BIDV Securities Co (BSC), though market liquidity decreased, market breadth tilted to the positive side (14 of 19 sectors gained value), showing that cash flow was focusing on certain stocks.

“VN-Index is expected to maintain movement in the accumulation area of 1,380-1,400 points as technical indicators have not shown signs of changing trend,” BSC’s analysts wrote in Tuesday’s market report.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index went up 0.49 per cent to close at 397.81 points, extending its rising streak to seven consecutive sessions.

Liquidity also declined here as just 115 million shares worth VNĐ2.5 trillion being traded, down 24.4 per cent in volume and 28.4 per cent in value compared to the previous session.

Foreign traders were net sellers on both exchanges, offloading shares worth net sell value of VNĐ91 billion. — VNS