Vincom Mega Mall Smart City, a large shopping and entertainment centre in Vinhomes Smart City. Shares of the company soared over 6 per cent on Thursday, leading the market uptrend. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The market extended rallies on Thursday, backed by strong gains in Vingroup (VIC) and Vinhomes (VHM), while foreign investors remained on their selling spree.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index increased 8.63 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 1,666.09 points. This was its third straight rallying session.

The market's breadth was in the positive zone with 188 stocks finishing higher and 126 going down. Liquidity was almost unchanged, reaching VNĐ27.8 trillion (US$1.1 billion).

The 30 biggest stocks tracker, the VN30-index, also edged higher. It closed the day at 1,858.67 points, up 5.19 points, or 0.28 per cent. In the VN30 basket, 17 stocks increased, while 12 fell and one stayed unchanged.

In today's afternoon session, VIC and VHM demonstrated a strong resurgence, significantly improving the VN-Index despite overall market breadth remaining relatively unchanged from the morning trade.

VHM closed the morning down 0.51 per cent, but after the market reopened in the afternoon trade, it ultimately rose 1.53 per cent from its reference price.

VIC outperformed even more dramatically, closing up 6.04 per cent, which accounted for a substantial 5.47 per cent increase in just the afternoon session. VIC alone contributed over 8.5 points to the VN-Index's total rise.

The mid-cap and small-cap stocks performed well. Midcap stocks experienced a 32 per cent increase in liquidity, while small-cap stocks surged by 57 per cent.

The Midcap Index closed up 0.68 per cent and the smallcap Index rose by 0.77 per cent, both outperforming the major indices.

Active trading was particularly evident among mid-cap stocks, with several exhibiting superior liquidity compared to blue chips. Vietnam Container Shipping JSC (VSC), Deo Ca Traffic Infrastructure Investment JSC (HHV) and Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII) posted the biggest daily gain of 7 per cent, while Vinaconex (VCG) increased by 2.19 per cent and Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR) gained 3.52 per cent.

Similarly, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) closed higher at 277.65 points, up 0.37 points, or 0.13 per cent. During the session, 93 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth more than VNĐ2 trillion.

Weighing on the market's sentiment, foreign investors continued their selling spree. They net sold nearly VNĐ2.1 trillion on HoSE and over VNĐ140.9 billion on HNX. — BIZHUB/VNS