HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares extended gains yesterday as investors were in a better mood and oil prices continued recovering from a dive after Britain’s choice to leave the European Union.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange rose 1.3 per cent to finish at 630.12 points, totalling a three-day rally of 1.5 per cent from Friday’s slump.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange added 1 per cent to close the trading session at 84.74 points, rebounding 1.4 per cent in the last two days.

“Local markets continued to recover from Friday’s plunge as investor confidence became more steady, and sell-offs are unlikely to happen again,” Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Corp (SHS) wrote in its daily report.

“Blue chips had a positive trading day, proving that Việt Nam’s stocks were making good progress in spite of the country’s lower year-on-year GDP growth in the first half of the year.”

Investor confidence was also bolstered as local analysts said that the markets over-reacted to the UK’s choice to leave the EU, and investors exaggerated their fears over what might happen to stock markets.

A stronger British pound versus the US dollar also helped Việt Nam’s central bank cut its daily reference mid-point rate by VNĐ6 to VNĐ21,882 for a dollar.

Local banks were able to trade the Vietnamese đồng and the dollar within a trading band of 3 per cent on either side of the mid-point rate.

Property and retail company Vingroup JSC (VIC), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) and the three largest listed banks – Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG) and the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) – were major factors that boosted the southern bourse.

VIC and BID edged up 0.6 per cent each, BVH rose 1.7 per cent, VCB gained 1.9 per cent and CTG increased by 2.4 per cent.

On the northern exchange, Vicostone JSC (VCS), Tiền Phong Plastic JSC (NTP), insurer PVI Holdings (PVI) and Việt Nam Construction and Import-Export Corp (VCG) advanced between 1.4 per cent and 8.1 per cent.

Additionally, listed energy firms rose after oil prices advanced for a second day after plunging on Friday. London-traded Brent crude was traded at US$49.03 a barrel, up 0.9 per cent from Tuesday. Brent crude has jumped 4 per cent in the last two days.

The largest energy firms that increased were PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), PetroVietnam Technical Service Corp (PVS) and PetroVietnam Mud Drilling Corp (PVC).

Investors exchanged 171.4 million shares worth VNĐ3.47 trillion ($154 million), an increase of one-third from Tuesday’s trading value. — VNS