HÀ NỘI – Shares extended gains to four days in a row yesterday as investors continued to collect large-cap stocks, particularly shares to be sold by the Government.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index added 0.3 per cent to close the session at 674.6 points. The Index has increased nearly 2.5 per cent in the last four sessions.

The HNX-Index on the smaller exchange in Hà Nội was up 0.8 per cent to end at 84.4 points. It rose 0.6 per cent on Tuesday.

Large-cap shares were mixed. The shares which would be sold by the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to reduce the State holdings in big companies like dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), software producer FPT Corp (FPT), Bảo Minh Insurance (BMI), Bình Minh Plastic (BMP) and Tiền Phong Plastic (NTP) rose strongly.

The biggest listed stock Vinamilk gained 2.5 per cent while others climbed between 3 per cent and 4.5 per cent.

In mid-August, the Government asked SCIC to draw up a roadmap for selling State holdings in 10 big State-owned enterprises, of which eight businesses are listing shares on the two national stock exchanges with a combined market capitalisation of around US$4.5 billion.

On the other end of the spectrum, some blue chips declined and restrained the market. Big losers included real estate giant VinGroup (VIC), Masan Group (MSN), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) and lender BIDV (BID).

Besides blue chips, many investors focused on realty and steel stocks with eight of the top 10 most active codes from property and steel manufacturing firms. Each of these shares saw between 2.7 million shares and 5.9 million shares change hands. Prices of these shares also increased 1-4 per cent.

“Market development remained positive and facilitate trades in the short- and medium-term period,” stock analysts at Maritime Bank Securities Co wrote in a report.

Growth of leading shares in real estate, consumer goods and insurers, as well as improvement in liquidity showed a sign of a longer rise, the report said. However, it warned a short downward correction when the VN-Index approaches the 680 point level, driven by rising profit-taking selling pressure.

A total of nearly 157 million shares worth VNĐ3.5 trillion (US$157 million) were traded in the two markets yesterday, up 12.1 per cent in volume and 20.7 per cent in value over Tuesday’s figures.

Foreign investors remained net sellers in the HCM City’s market but their net sell value decreased to VNĐ31 billion from VNĐ117 billion seen on Tuesday. They remained net buyers in the Hà Nội’s market for a net value of VNĐ14 billion. – VNS