HÀ NỘI – Shares extended gains on Wednesday on the HCM Stock Exchange with the benchmark VN-Index rising 0.41 per cent to close at 813.95 points, expanding its three-day rally to 0.76 per cent.

Seventeen of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the southern bourse gained while 11 declined.

Real estate giant VinGroup (VIC) was the biggest gainer with growth of 5.2 per cent. Lender BIDV (BID), PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corp (PVD), IT group FPT (FPT), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) and brewer Sabeco (SAB) rose between 0.5-1.6 per cent.

“The rally today was mostly attributable to the positive movement of large-cap stocks amid high selling pressure in the market with a wide divergence amongst groups of stocks,” Bảo Việt Securities Co’s analyst Trần Đức Anh wrote in a yesterday report.

Bank stocks diverged widely, with BIDV (BID), Eximbank (EIB) and VPBank (VPB) advancing while Sacombank (STB), Vietinbank (CTG), Vietcombank (VCB) and Military Bank (MBB) declined.

Notably, Sacombank dropped by 6.4 per cent following the surprise news that the bank is seeking shareholders’ approval to transfer its listing to the Hà Nội Stock Exchange under the new code SCM.

Overall market conditions were negative with decliners outnumbering advancers by 155-116 and 72 stocks flat.

According to Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co (SHS), third-quarter earnings results of listed companies are gradually being released, supporting the market. However, negative factors including prolonged net selling by foreign traders and modest liquidity have shown that investors remain wary.

Analysts predicted the VN-Index will likely head to the next target of 815 points on wide divergence.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.08 per cent to end Wednesday at 108.65 points. The northern market index fell 0.16 per cent on Tuesday.

Liquidity rose yesterday with 228.5 million shares worth a combined VNĐ4.4 trillion (US$194.2 million) traded in the two markets, up 24.7 per cent in volume and 19 per cent in value compared to Tuesday.

Foreign investors were net sellers for a third straight day with total net sell value of VNĐ557.4 billion. – VNS