A customer at Vietcombank's transaction office. The bank's shares surged nearly 1.7 per cent on Wednesday, leading the rally trend. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — The market settled higher on Wednesday as concerns about the country’s inflation were eased, boosting investors' sentiment. 

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index inched closer to the threshold of 1,200 points. Of which, the market benchmark ended the trading day at 1,194.14 points, a gain of 15.81 points, or 1.34 per cent. 

During the session, the market’s breadth remained in the positive zone, with 374 stocks increasing, while 87 stocks declined.

Liquidity improved compared to the previous session. Accordingly, the total matching value on the market was VNĐ15.4 trillion (US$657.6 million), up 33 per cent, of which the matching value on HoSE alone rose 34 per cent to over VNĐ12.9 trillion.

The 30 biggest stock tracker VN30-Index also jumped 13.92 points, or 1.15 per cent, to 1,225.62 points. In the VN30 basket, 28 stocks climbed, while only one slid and one stayed unchanged. 

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) also finished higher on Wednesday, up 4.44 points, or 1.56 per cent, to 288.87 points. 

On the northern bourse, nearly 88.2 million shares were traded, worth VNĐ1.69 trillion. 

The rally trend gathered strength since the market opened, with many ticker symbols reporting strong performance. 

The market sentiment was boosted after economists stressed that the country’s inflation is under control and its monetary policies will not be under the influence of major central banks’ rate hikes. 

Bank stocks returned to the market’s leading role, with Vietcombank (VCB) posting the biggest gain of 1.68 per cent in market capitalisation. Other bank stocks contributing to the tendency were BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Tienphong Bank (TPB), Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), and MBBank (MBB). These stocks were up at least 1.4 per cent on Wednesday. 

Supporting the uptrend, stocks in manufacturing, energy, real estate, retail and information technology (IT) also posted strong growth. For example, Vinhomes (VHM), Hòa Bình Construction Group JSC (HBC), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Sabeco (SAB), PV Gas (GAS), FPT Corporation (FPT) and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) edged up in a range of 1-7 per cent, with HBC hitting biggest daily gain of 7 per cent. 

Meanwhile, foreign investors also returned to the market as they net bought billions on both main exchanges. Of which, they net bought a value of VNĐ194.35 billion on HoSE and VNĐ2.65 billion on HNX. — VNS