A worker harvesting latex at a plantation. Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) witnessed strong performance yesterday with gain of nearly 7 per cent. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Shares jumped on Wednesday on rising buying force since the market opened.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) edged up 16.56 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 1,307.91 points. It was the highest close for the index since May 11. 

The market's breadth was positive with 389 stocks gaining points, of which 46 ticker symbols hit ceiling prices, while 80 stocks dropped. Liquidity fell over the last session as the matching value on the southern bourse declined by 4.75 per cent to nearly VNĐ15.7 trillion (US$676.1 million), equal to a trading volume of 543 million shares.

The index extended its bullish trend on improved risk appetite, lifting many stocks, especially in the banking and manufacturing sectors. The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index gained 17.66 points, or 1.33 per cent, to 1,342.03 points. 

Of the VN30 basket, 21 stocks climbed with two stocks registering a maximum daily rise of 7 per cent, seven stocks slid and two stocks ended flat. 

Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) was the biggest gainer yesterday, up 7 per cent, and led the index's rally. 

The benchmark also received support from bank stocks, including VPBank (VPB), MBBank (MBB), Techcombank (TCB), BIDV (BID) and Sacombank (STB), with STB posting an increase of 7 per cent - the biggest intraday gain. 

However, lingering selling pressure still weighed on the market, causing losses in some pillar stocks and limiting the uptrend. Data compiled by vietstock.vn showed that Vietcombank (VCB) lost the most yesterday, down more than 2.2 per cent. Strong advance in the previous session may be the season causing the profit-taking activities. 

PV Gas (GAS) and Hòa Phát Group (HPG) also inched down around 0.9 per cent. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index settled higher yesterday, ending its five-day losing streak. The northern market's benchmark index surged 6.78 points, or 2.23 per cent, to 310.93 points. 

Meanwhile, foreign investors continued to pour capital into the market after net buying nearly VNĐ260 billion. Of which, they net bought VNĐ274.53 billion on HoSE, while net sold nearly VNĐ15 billion on HNX. VNS