Mobile World Investment Corporations' head office in Thủ Đức, HCM City. The company shares hit the ceiling price yesterday, leading the market's rally. Photo kinhtechungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares finished higher on Friday as the market sentiment improved significantly, pushing the benchmark VN-Index above the psychological level of 1,500 points. 

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index surged by 24.29 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 1,516.44 points. 

The market's breadth was positive with 330 stocks increasing, while 125 stocks declined. Liquidity also inched higher compared to the previous session, with nearly VNĐ27 trillion (US$1.2 billion) worth of stocks, equivalent to a trading volume of more than 967.67 million shares, traded on the southern bourse. 

The index was boosted by strong gains in large-cap stocks, especially in banking, manufacturing, realty and retail sectors. The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index posted a rise of 33.94 points, or 2.25 per cent, to 1,542.47 points. 

Of the VN30 basket, 29 stocks inched higher with one stock hitting the maximum intraday gain of 7 per cent, while only one stock slid. 

Statistics showed that Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) of the retail sector was the market's leader yesterday, up 7 per cent. Other stocks in the top five influencing the uptrend were VPBank (VPB), Masan Group (MSN), Novaland (NVL) and BIDV (BID). These stocks all reported a gain of at least 2 per cent. 

The benchmark also received support from utilities and information technology stocks like PV Gas (GAS), up nearly 1.3 per cent and FPT Corporation (FPT) up 3.74 per cent. 

FLC Group (FLC) showed signs of improvement after hitting floor prices for four consecutive sessions. The company's shares ended yesterday at VNĐ10,850 per share, down 0.15 points, or 1.36 per cent, while the liquidity also improved significantly. 

On Thursday, FLC appointed a new CEO to replace Trịnh Văn Quyết after he was arrested. According to its announcement, Đặng Tất Thắng, previously Vice President of FLC, is now CEO of FLC Group and Bamboo Airways starting from March 31 until there are new decisions from the shareholders and the Board of Directors.

Analysts from Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) said that amid negative news from both domestic and international markets, the fact that the market remained stable was quite positive. 

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HoSE) also edged up yesterday as investors' risk appetite was stronger. The index climbed by 4.48 points, or 1 per cent, to 454.1 points. It had gained a total of 11.62 points in the last two sessions. 

During the trading day, over 124.6 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth more than VNĐ3.2 trillion.

Meanwhile, foreign investors continued to pour capital into the southern market after net buying a value of VNĐ409.6 billion. However, they net sold a value of VNĐ3.39 billion on HNX. VNS