Workers collect rubber latex for production at a plantation of Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR). GVR shares logged the biggest daily gain of 7 per cent on Friday, leading the upward trend. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The stock market extended rallies on Friday, lifted by gains in pillar stocks other than the banking group while liquidity hovering at a high level.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index closed the week at 1,209.7 points, an increase of 7.2 points, or 0.6 per cent. The index rose for five consecutive days.

The market's breadth was still positive as the number of gainers surpassed that of decliners by 198 to 123. Liquidity also remained at a high level of VNĐ18.2 trillion (US$744.1 million). 

The 30 biggest stocks tracker, VN30-Index, inched up 7.42 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 1,224.54 points. In the VN30 basket, 17 stocks ticked higher with one hitting the ceiling price, while nine went down and four ticker symbols ended flat. 

The benchmark index broke over the short-term psychological resistance of 1,200 points on Thursday, the first trading day after the market closed for a week due to the Lunar New year holidays. 

Analysts at the Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC expect the index will continue to move positively, but it is likely to fluctuate to retest the resistance level of 1,200 points. 

"In a positive view, we think that the market's trend is still positive even though there may be some corrections, the target of the short-term uptrend could be at around 1,250 points," SHS said. 

Instead of bank stocks, manufacturing and real estate group led the market's bullish trend today. In particular, Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) was the biggest gainer, up 7 per cent. It was followed by Vingroup (VIC), Vinamilk (VNM) and Vinhomes (VHM), up in a range of 1.8-3.55 per cent. 

Also supporting the market, PV Gas (GAS), Masan Group (MSN), Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) and FPT Corporation (FPT) performed well. 

In contrast, lingering selling pressure continued to weigh on some ticker symbols. Of which, BIDV (BID) was the biggest loser with a drop of 0.82 per cent. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also finished higher at 233.04 points, up 0.29 points, or 0.12 per cent. A VNĐ1.28 trillion worth of shares was traded on the northern bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 68 million shares. 

Foreign investors, however, continue to withdraw capital from the market as they net sold a total of VNĐ433.54 billion on the two exchanges. — VNS