Vietnamese shares extended gains for a third day in both local markets on Friday, boosted by high investor expectations for good corporate second quarter earnings reports.— Photo congly.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares extended gains for a third day in both local markets on Friday, boosted by high investor expectations for good corporate second quarter earnings reports.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange advanced 0.61 per cent to close at 776.47 points.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange added 0.35 per cent to end at 99.14 points.

Both local stock indices have extended rallies to a third session with total growth of 1.1 per cent each.

The three-day increase also helped the indices grow approximately 1 per cent week on week.

More than 239.7 million shares were traded on both bourses, worth VNĐ4.5 trillion (US$200.4 million).

Large-cap stocks were the major factor that lifted the stock market. 15 stocks in the VN30 Index rose.

The biggest gainers among those blue chips included dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), steel producer Hòa Phát Group (HPG), property developer Vingroup (VIC), Vietcombank (VCB) and Sài Gòn Securities (SSI).

Securities companies pointed out that high investor expectations on companies’ second-quarter profit reports was the force that pushed the market indices.

The stock market is moving toward quarterly earnings reports season, Vietnam Investment Securities Co (IVS) said in a note.

So far, none of the listed companies have published their earnings reports for the second quarter, but some have announced their results for May, IVS said.

Shares of companies like Sài Gòn Securities, HCM City Securities, Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Co and Hòa Bình Construction Group Joint Stock Co are forecast to rise further based on the market expectation, the brokerage added.

Investor confidence in shares of brokerage firms has improved in the second quarter, as market trading liquidity rose in comparison to the first quarter, increasing chances for those companies to have higher earnings from share trading activities.

Total trading value on the three exchanges since the beginning of the second quarter has reached VNĐ270 trillion, an increase of 36 per cent from the first quarter and 70 per cent year on year, online newspaper tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn reported on Friday.

The figure is forecast to rise further in the remaining months, especially when the derivatives market comes into operation in August, bringing more investment opportunities for investors, Nguyễn Đức Hùng Linh, SSI analyst said.

In addition, energy stocks were supported by higher oil prices. Brent crude gained 0.6 per cent to trade at $47.7 a barrel. — VNS