HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares yesterday extended gains for a second session as investors became highly confident after a decision was made by the international tribunal to reject China’s territorial claim over the South China Sea (East Sea).

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange advanced 2.5 per cent – the highest rise in the last 12 weeks - to finish at a nine-year high of 675.12 points. The southern market index has jumped 3.5 per cent in the last two days.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange ended at 87.38 points, up 1.2 per cent from the previous session. The northern market index has climbed 1.6 per cent in two trading days.

Investor confidence was bolstered after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on Tuesday rejected China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea (East Sea).

“Investors reacted positively to the PCA’s ruling,” Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Corp (SHS) wrote in its market daily report. Higher investor confidence helped markets rise for a second day.

Banks were the strongest gainers, led by the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Việt Nam (VCB) and Việt Nam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (CTG) and the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) after these three banks announced year-on-year increases in their second-quarter profits, Bảo Việt Securities Corp (BVSC) wrote in its daily report.

Foreign purchases also helped boost those bank stocks, BVSC said. Foreign buying accounted for half of the trading volume in VCB and a quarter of the trading volume in CTG.

VCB surged 6.5 per cent to reach the highest-ever price, CTG added 6.8 per cent and BID jumped 3.9 per cent. VCB has soared 24.4 per cent since June 27 and CTG has jumped 14.5 per cent since June 28.

Strong gains in VCB, CTG and BID also dragged other banks up such as Việt Nam Export Import Joint Stock Commercial Bank (EIB) and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB).

Other blue chips also made good gains, including insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Sài Gòn Securities Inc (SSI) and property developer Vingroup JSC (VIC).

Việt Nam’s central bank yesterday raised its daily reference mid-point rate by VNĐ10 to VNĐ21,879 for a US dollar, totaling a two-day gain of VNĐ24.

Investors exchanged more than 241.6 million shares worth VNĐ4.58 trillion (US$203.6 million), an increase of 13.2 per cent from the previous session. — VNS