Customers shopping at a Vinmart store, a grocery chain operated by Masan Group. The company's shares led the market's rally yesterday, up nearly 3.7 per cent. Photo masangroup.com

HÀ NỘI — Benchmark indices settled higher on Tuesday, reversing yesterday’s course as losses in the last two sessions triggered bottom finishing activities.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased by 6.49 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 1,452.74 points. 

It lost nearly 20.3 points on Monday as the market was affected by the negative sentiment of the Asia market, causing a strong sell-off across all sectors. The index extended losses in the morning trade.

The market’s breadth was positive with 272 stocks climbing, while 166 stocks slid. However, liquidity continued to decrease compared to the previous session, with nearly 675.63 million shares traded on the southern bourse, worth over VNĐ21.8 trillion (US$952.6 million).

The index’s reversal was driven by bottom fishing activities in many large-cap stocks. Thereby, the VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, rose by 7.79 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 1,468.89 points. 

Eighteen stocks in the VN30 basket gained yesterday, while only eight declined and four ended flat. 

Statistics by vietstock.vn showed that Masan Group (MSN) was the biggest gainer leading the uptrend yesterday. The company’s shares surged 3.76 per cent. 

It was followed by two bank stocks which were BIDV (BID) and VPBank (VPB), up 1.94 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively. 

Real estate and oil and gas stocks also witnessed strong recoveries yesterday. Of which PV Gas (GAS) was up 1.89 per cent, PVDriling (PVD) up nearly 1 per cent, Becamex (BCM) up 2.55 per cent and Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG) up more than 1 per cent. 

On the other hand, Vietcombank (VCB) still faced a strong sell-off, down nearly 3.7 per cent. 

The recovery was in line with Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) expectation after the market saw a strong correction. 

“Technically, the VN-Index is returning to the support levels of 1,425 - 1,450 points, the bottom set in January,” SHS told investors in its daily report released on Monday. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also climbed 6.95 points, or 1.59 per cent, to 443.52 points. The gain helped the index fully recover after falling 5.63 points in the previous session. 

During the session, investors poured over VNĐ2.9 trillion into the market, equivalent to a trading volume of more than 100.9 million shares. 

Meanwhile, foreign investors were net sellers on both main exchanges, of which they net sold a value of VNĐ429.55 billion on HoSE, and a value of VNĐ3.26 billion on the northern bourse. VNS