Workers harvest rubber latex. Rubber industry stocks lead the market on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Vietnamese markets extended gains and ended higher on Wednesday, mainly due to rises in rubber industry shares.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 4.68 points, or 0.37 per cent, to close the trading session at 1,261.24 points.

For most of the day, the VN-Index traded above the reference level. Despite strong selling pressure at the end of the morning session and the beginning of the afternoon session, the VN-Index still ended higher, marking a second consecutive day of gains.

The market's breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers by 161 to 158. Liquidity on the southern bourse fell 3.4 per cent to VNĐ20.8 trillion (US$815.7 million), with a trading volume of 878 million shares.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks, climbed 2.5 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 1,291.3 points. Twelve ticker symbols in the VN30 basket edged up, while 12 inched down and six ended flat.

Data compiled by financial news site vietstock.vn showed that cash was moving into rubber stocks.

The rubber sector experienced significant gains, with several companies witnessing increased investor interest and robust trading activity. The biggest gainer was Vietnam Rubber Group - Joint Stock Company (GVR). Shares of the rubber producer hit the ceiling on Wednesday, up 6.99 per cent, contributing nearly 2.5 points to the VN-Index gain.

It was followed by Đồng Phú Rubber Joint Stock Company (DPR), which rose 3.83 per cent, and Tây Ninh Rubber Joint Stock Company (TRC), up 2.81 per cent.

Other large-cap stocks that performed well included Becamex (BCM), which increased by 4.76 per cent, FPT Corporation (FPT), up 1.38 per cent, and Vietnam National Petroleum Group (PLX), which rose by 3.41 per cent.

Limiting the rallies, some big stocks still faced strong sell-offs. Vinhomes JSC (VHM) posted a decrease of 0.79 per cent, Sabeco (SAB) was down 0.99 per cent, and Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company (VRE) lost 2.35 per cent.

Banking stocks also saw poor performances on Wednesday. The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB) declined 0.35 per cent, and Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (CTG) tumbled 0.95 per cent.

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) index finished lower on Wednesday afternoon, declining 0.21 per cent to 239.68 points.

During the session, more than VNĐ1.1 trillion worth of shares were traded, equivalent to a trading volume of over 52 million shares on the northern bourse.

Foreign investors extended their net selling spree, net selling over VNĐ601 billion on the HoSE. — VNS