A Vietnam Airline airplane at Nội Bài International Airport, Hà Nội City. Shares of the national airline hit a ceiling and led the entire market on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Benchmark indices inched higher on Wednesday, marking a second consecutive session of gains, despite persistent strong net selling by foreign investors.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 0.29 points, or 0.02 per cent, to close the trading session at 1,279.79 points.

On the southern bourse, the breadth was negative as 187 stocks ticked down, while 141 increased and 49 ended flat. Liquidity hovered above VNĐ25.9 trillion (US$1.02 billion), an increase of 15 per cent from the previous session.

The 30 biggest stocks tracker, the VN30-Index, climbed 4.33 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 1,314.22 points. Fourteen ticker symbols in the VN30 basket edged up, while fourteen inched down and two stocks ended flat.

Data compiled by the financial website vietstock.vn showed that Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN) was the biggest gainer on the market and led the market in terms of capitalisation. Shares of the national airline hit a ceiling on Wednesday, rising by 6.92 per cent, contributing more than 1.3 points to the VN-Index gain.

It was followed by FPT Corporation (FPT), with shares of the software manufacturer increasing 2.73 per cent, Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPB), up 2.15 per cent and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), up 1.77 per cent.

Limiting the rallies, some big stocks still faced strong sell-offs. Vingroup Joint Stock Company (VIC) posted a decrease of 1.43 per cent, Sabeco (SAB) was down 2.52 per cent and the Vietnam Rubber Group - Joint Stock Company (GVR) lost 1.03 per cent.

Banking stocks also saw poor performances on Wednesday. The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB) declined 0.57 per cent, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) fell 0.86 per cent and the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TCB) tumbled 1.02 per cent.

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) index finished lower on Wednesday afternoon, declining 0.35 per cent to 243.57 points.

During the session, more than VNĐ1.4 trillion worth of shares were traded, equivalent to a trading volume of over 71 million shares on the northern bourse.

Foreign investors extended their net selling spree as they net sold over VNĐ1.5 trillion on the HoSE. This bloc has been net selling for ten consecutive sessions. — VNS