Customers at a branch of VPBank in Hà Nội. Photo courtesy of VPBank

HÀ NỘI - Shares ended higher on Wednesday thanks to the growth of the banking stock group but liquidity remained at a low level as investors held back from making further purchases ahead of the Tết holiday.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose 0.14 per cent to close at 1,481.58 points.

The index had risen 2.77 per cent to close at 1,479.58 points yesterday.

The market's breadth was neutral with 225 gainers and 239 decliners.

On HoSE, investors poured over VNĐ23.5 trillion (US$1 billion) into the market, equivalent to a trading volume of over 813 million shares.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, gained 0.60 per cent, to 1,525.31 points.

Of the VN30 basket, 19 stocks rose to cushion the market, while 11 declined.

A series of stocks in industry groups such as banking, steel, oil and gas increased strongly, helping the VN-Index to end the session higher.

The banking group outperformed and supported the gains of the market with notable gainers including Vietinbank (CTG), Techcombank (TCB), VPBank (VPB), Military Bank (MBB), Sacombank (STB) and Eximbank (EIB).

The steel industry experienced a positive trading day with notable industry-representative stocks such as Hoà Phát Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Nam Kim Group (NKG) all climbing.

Vietnamese oil and gas stocks grew well, including PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX), Bình Sơn Refinery (BSR).

“Although VN-Index was in an upward trend, investors should still trade cautiously in the last days of this lunar year when the market's fluctuation range is quite large,” said BIDV Securities Co.

Fourteen out of 25 sector indices on the stock market made gains, including wholesale, insurance, real estate, retail, banking, agriculture, rubber processing, seafood processing, construction materials and logistics.

On the negative side, losing indices included securities, healthcare, oil and gas, food and beverage and construction.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index gained 0.39 per cent, to close Wednesday at 411.82 points.

It had gained 2.36 per cent, to close Tuesday at 410.23 points.

More than 52.3 million shares were traded on the southern exchange, worth VNĐ1.6 trillion. — VNS