HÀ NỘI — Shares rebounded slightly on the HCM Stock Exchange after a bearish session on Wednesday, propped up by strong growth of real estate and steel stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index regained all of Tuesday’s losses with a rise of 0.6 per cent at the close of 778.65 points. The southern market index edged down 0.42 per cent in the previous session.

Many heavyweight stocks recovered on Wednesday, including industry-leading companies in sectors of real estate, steel manufacturing, retail and food-beverage.

VinGroup, the biggest listed realty firm by market value and assets, perked up 6.84 per cent and settled at VNĐ49,200 (US$2.17) a share. The company yesterday reported its net profit after audit soared to almost VNĐ1.65 trillion in the first half of this year, a 6.8-fold increase over the old figure of just VNĐ244 billion.

Its consolidated net profits (total profits made by all companies belonging to the group) also increased by VNĐ251.2 billion to VNĐ1.86 trillion. The company explained such a sharp rise mainly came from an increase in financial incomes including additional dividends receiving from its subsidiaries.

Foreign investors on Wednesday bought a net value of nearly VNĐ39 billion worth of VinGroup’s shares, making it the most purchased share by foreign traders by value.

Apart from VinGroup, other firms such as Masan Group, Vinamilk, brewery Sabeco, IT giant FPT Corp, mobile device retailer Mobile World Group, steelmakers Hòa Phát Group and Hoa Sen Group also advanced and supported the market.

On the defensive side, some large-cap stocks still sank in the red and weighed on the VN-Index, including banks such as BIDV, Vietinbank, Sacombank, insurer Bảo Việt Holdings, petrol retailer Petrolimex and PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service Corp.

Meanwhile, speculative stocks were under high selling pressure. Real estate FLC Group, Hoàng Quân Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate JSC, HAI Agrochem and financial services Ocean Group still led the market by the trading volume but their share prices tumbled between 3-7 per cent each.

According to BIDV Securities Co, liquidity declined along with the trend of cash flow focusing on individual stocks which could cause unsustainable market growth.

“The VN-Index may rise again in the coming sessions but the medium-term correction trend has not ended, especially in the context of a lack of support information in the current period,” the company said in a note.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange fell 0.18 per cent to close at 103.34 points, extending its fall to total 0.5 per cent after the last two sessions.

A total of 243.3 million shares worth nearly VNĐ4.1 trillion ($179.4 million) were traded in the two markets on Wednesday, down 22.6 per cent in volume and 16.3 per cent in value compared to Tuesday’s figures. — VNS