An ATR 72 aircraft from Vietnam Airlines' fleet. The airline's shares took off and led the entire market on Friday. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Airlines

HÀ NỘI — Benchmark indices inched higher on Friday, marking the fifth consecutive session of gains for the VN-Index this week.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 3.15 points, or 0.25 per cent, to close the trading session at 1,283.04 points.

Despite the positive close, market breadth was negative with 180 stocks declining, 134 advancing and 61 remaining flat. Liquidity reached nearly VNĐ16 trillion (US$626 million), an increase of 14 per cent from the previous session.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest stocks, climbed 5.55 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 1,316.18 points. In the VN30 basket, 15 ticker symbols edged up, eight declined and seven remained unchanged.

Data from financial website vietstock.vn revealed that Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN) was the biggest gainer in terms of market capitalisation. Shares of the national airline surged 6.29 per cent on Friday, contributing more than 1.2 points to the VN-Index gain.

It was followed by FPT Corporation (FPT), whose shares increased by 2.14 per cent, marking the third consecutive strong session for the software manufacturer.

Banking stocks also performed well, with notable gains from Liên Việt Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPB), up 2.71 per cent, Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (CTG), up 1.24 per cent and the Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPB), up 0.52 per cent.

However, some large-cap stocks faced significant sell-offs. Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Corporation (SAB) decreased by 1.69 per cent, Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company (VRE) fell by 2.12 per cent and Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDB) dropped by 0.61 per cent.

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) index also finished higher on Friday, rising by 0.18 per cent to 242.31 points.

During the session, more than VNĐ1.2 trillion worth of shares were traded, equivalent to a trading volume of over 61 million shares on the northern bourse.

Foreign investors continued their net selling trend, offloading over VNĐ371 billion on the HoSE. — VNS