HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares extended gains yesterday, rescued by oil and gas firms during the end of the session after oil prices rebounded strongly on OPEC’s first eight-year output reduction.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange rose 0.3 per cent to close at 688.55 points – a new nine-year high – extending its gain of 5.7 per cent for nine consecutive trading days. Yesterday’s gain also marked the longest gaining streak for the southern market index since the beginning of the year.

The HNX Index on the smaller Hà Nội Stock Exchange added 0.9 per cent to finish at 85.07 points, totaling an increase of 2.4 per cent in the last three sessions.

The stock market suffered earlier from profit-earning on financial stocks, which had rallied in the previous sessions.

Vietcombank (VCB) fell 1.8 per cent from a three-day gain of 4.3 per cent, Vietinbank (CTG) lost 1.4 per cent from a two-day increase of 3 per cent, and Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) was down 2 per cent from a two-day surge of 8.6 per cent.

Other finance service suppliers such as insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) dropped 2.1 per cent from an eight-day rally of 22 per cent and Sài Gòn Securities Inc (SSI) edged down 0.4 per cent from a three-day rise of 3.7 per cent.

“Oil and gas stocks saved the market yesterday,” Bảo Việt Securities Corp (BVSC) said in a note.

Crude prices advanced at the strongest level since April after members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided for the first time in the past eight years to cut their output volumes in order to save market prices.

US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was held near US$47 a barrel yesterday, jumping 5.1 per cent from Tuesday’s closing price. London-traded Brent crude was traded at $48.39 a barrel, up 5.7 per cent since Tuesday.

WTI and Brent crude have surged about three-quarters each from their twelve-year lows of $26.55 and $27.88 a barrel reached on January 20.

“The output cut was such a surprise for the whole market as analysts and traders were expecting OPEC members to maintain current production levels since 2014 to secure their market shares,” BVSC said.

“Crude prices have passed the level of $46 a barrel and now target to test their previous peak of $50-52 a barrel in the short term,” the brokerage firm said. “Energy stocks are benefiting from this trend and are likely to continue rising in October.”

The largest listed energy firms including PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corp (PVD), and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp (PVS) soared between 4.6 per cent and 9.5 per cent.

Investors traded more than 168 million shares worth VNĐ3.54 trillion ($157.3 million), an increase of 6.8 per cent from Wednesday’s trading value. — VNS