Workers at a processing plant of Vinamilk. Shares of the dairy producer surged over 3.2 per cent on Thursday. — Photo courtesy of the company

HÀ NỘI — The domestic stock market finished higher on Thursday, with the VN-Index inching closer to its historical high.

The market’s benchmark index closed up by 8.71 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 1,521.02 points – the highest since January 2022. The index’s peak was 1,528.57 points, set on January 6, 2022.

Breadth of the market was positive as the number of gainers exceeded that of decliners by 184 to 131. Liquidity stayed high at over VNĐ36.8 trillion (US$1.4 billion).

The 30 biggest stock tracker, VN30-Index, also increased. It rose 8.22 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 1,661.23 points. In the VN30 basket, up to 22 stocks inched higher, while six went down and two ended flat.

The market witnessed a remarkable recovery in the afternoon session, with major large-cap stocks initially dipping below reference levels, including notable players like Vingroup (VIC) and Vinhomes (VHM).

Despite this, the market managed to close positively, providing a conducive environment for capital inflow into mid- and small-cap stocks.

By the end of the session, the Midcap index rose by 1.01 per cent, marking it as the standout performer. The Smallcap index saw several stocks reaching their ceiling prices, although the overall index only increased by 0.17 per cent.

Nevertheless, large-cap stocks were still the market’s drivers.

MBBank (MBB) stood out with a notable increase of 3.65 per cent, while other major players like BIDV (BID), Techcombank (TCB), Vietinbank (CTG) and VPBank (VPB) struggled.

VIC’s modest gain of 0.87 per cent was bolstered by its market capitalisation, as was Vietcombank (VCB)’s performance. In contrast, mid-cap stocks in the VN30 outperformed, with Vietjet Aviation (VJC) up 4.78 per cent, HDBank (HDB) increasing by 4.15 per cent and Vinamilk (VNM) rising 3.24 per cent.

The gains were capped by losses in some big players, which were led by Hoa Phat Group (HPG). The leading steel manufacturer dropped by 1.5 per cent.

It was followed by Masan Group (MSN), Vietnam Airlines (HVN) and FPT Corporation (FPT). These stocks plunged in a range of 0.6 – 2.35 per cent.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index increased 1.34 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 250.67 points.

During the session, over 137 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ2.6 trillion.

In contrast, foreign investors returned to the net selling trend today, withdrawing a net of VNĐ250.43 billion on both main exchanges. — BIZHUB/VNS