A store of Mobile World Investment Corporation in Tuyên Quang Province. Shares of the company soared nearly 2.4 per cent on Wednesday, supporting the market's uptrend. — Photo thegioididong.com

HÀ NỘI — The market benchmark VN-Index continued to rise for a third consecutive session on Wednesday, moving to near the 1,880-point mark and tightening the gap versus the historical peak to less than 3 per cent.

Before Wednesday's trading, many market analysts had expected momentum to cool soon. With the VN-Index approaching the historical high at 1,927 points, they warned that profit-taking pressure could intensify and trigger a stronger fluctuation and even a potential downward reversal.

Contrary to those expectations, the index largely held green during the session. It briefly moved closer to 1,900 points before narrowing the gain to nine points and closing at 1,878 points.

On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE), liquidity dropped to about VNĐ18.2 trillion, roughly 40 per cent lower than the previous session. Flow was concentrated in a short list of names, including Vingroup (VIC), Vinhomes (VHM), LPBank (LPB) and Techcombank (TCB).

The market's breadth stayed in the negative territory as the number of decliners surpassed that of gainers by 178 to 113.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, rose even more strongly, adding over 15 points and pushing the index beyond the psychological 2,000-point threshold.

LPB posted the second-strongest gain of the session. Although it didn't hit the ceiling price like in the previous session, the bank stock still rose more than 5.5 per cent, lifting its price to VNĐ55,500 per share, the highest close to date.

The Vingroup-related pair VIC and VHM continued their upward trajectory and remained key pillars for the benchmark. However, their price paths diverged late in the session. VIC narrowed its gain to 0.66 per cent at the close after being up more than 5 per cent at one point, while VHM ended up 2.31 per cent.

VHM, VIC and LPB were the three best contributors to the VN-Index Wednesday, adding 7.66 points to the index.

The benchmark index also received support from other large names such as TCB, Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), Techcom Securities (TCX) and Petrovietnam Refining And Petrochemical Corporation (BSR).

In contrast with HoSE, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) fell 8.14 points to 318.24 points.

After a single session of stockpiling, foreign investors returned to net selling again, with net outflows of more than VNĐ611 billion on HoSE and VNĐ5.82 billion on HNX.

In the near-term, analysts at ACB Securities said that when the index reaches the resistance zone of 1,880–1,890 points, profit-taking pressure may increase and the market could face stronger fluctuations. — BIZHUB/VNS