Inside a factory of steelmaker Hoà Phát Group (HPG). HPG rose 1.1 per cent on Wednesday. — Photo courtesy of HPG

HÀ NỘI Shares managed to stay higher on Wednesday amid cautious sentiment with stock indices fluctuating in a tight range.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index gained 0.28 per cent, to close at 1,050.43 points.

More than 792 million shares worth VNĐ13.7 trillion (US$581.6 million) were traded in the southern market.

The market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering losers by 252-161. Another 78 closed flat.

Thirteen out of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the HoSE gained value, while 13 declined.

The VN-30 Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, lost 0.02 per cent to close at 1,056.17 points.

In the VN-30 basket, the biggest gainers included Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Hoà Phát Group (HPG), Novaland (NVL), Mobile World Group (MWG) and Sacombank (STB).

On the other side, losers were property giant Vinhomes (VHM), Vietinbank (CTG), Phát Đạt Real Estate (PDR), SSI Securities Inc (SSI), FPT Corporation (FPT), Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Masan Group (MSN), Tiên Phong Bank (TPB), Vingroup (VIC), Vinamilk (VNM), VPBank (VPB) and Vincom Retail (VRE).

Energy stocks also performed positively with gainers such as Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) and Drilling Mud Joint Stock Corporation (PVC).

Seventeen out of 25 sector indices on the market gained ground, including wholesale, insurance, securities, retail, healthcare, oil and gas, banking, construction materials, logistics and seafood processing.

Meanwhile, losers were real estate, information and technology, agriculture, food and beverage, rubber production and construction.

Foreign investors net bought on the three exchanges with a total value of more than VNĐ23 billion. Today's session also marked a series of 18 consecutive sessions of net buying of foreign investors. Foreign investors' buying force focused on Vinhomes (VHM) and Novaland (NVL) while net selling on Vinamilk (VNM) and Hoà Phát Group (HPG).

On HoSE, foreign investors net bought VNĐ28 billion.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 0.18 per cent to close at 213.21 points.

Trading value on the northern exchange reached VNĐ1.15 trillion, with trading volume of 85 million shares. — VNS