HÀ NỘI — Shares ended on a positive note for a second day on the HCM Stock Exchange on Monday as energy firms and some construction companies continued to perform well.

The benchmark VN Index added 0.57 per cent to close at 845.20 points. The southern market index has gained total 1.8 per cent over the last two sessions.

More than 197 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ4.5 trillion (US$200.5 million).

Trading figures posted an increase of 37.6 per cent in volume and 31.6 per cent in value compared to Friday.

The market breadth was negative as the number of declining stocks doubled that of gaining ones by 187 to 93, while 39 other stocks ended flat.

The VN30 Index that tracks the performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity edged up 0.31 per cent to 837.52 points.

FLC Faros Construction Corp (ROS) was the stock that pushed the whole market up, hitting its daily increase limit of 7 per cent.

Other large-cap stocks that also made gains included PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), food and beverage producer Masan (MSN) and brewer Sabeco (SAB).

Brewer Sabeco has reported roughly VNĐ2.1 trillion in profit for the third quarter, raising its combined profit for the first three quarters to VNĐ3.54 trillion.

Sabeco saw its third-quarter profit up 11 per cent year on year, however, its nine-month profit was almost flat compared to the same period last year.

Shares of Sabeco rose 2.3 per cent to VNĐ287,000 per share on Monday.

PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) and other energy stocks also recorded good gains on Monday after crude prices remained positive on Monday. Brent crude added 0.23 per cent to trade at $60.58 a barrel, extending its growth since October 19.

The cash flow continued to focus mostly on large-cap stocks and shares of listed companies that had good third-quarter earnings reports and it was the main force driving the VN Index up despite the market trading condition continued to be dominated by declining stocks, Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co (SHS) said in its daily report.

In addition, net foreign buy value on the HCM Stock Exchange also helped boost the market’s overall morale, SHS said. Foreign investors on Monday posted a net buy value of VNĐ205 billion compared to Friday’s net sell value of VNĐ9.3 billion.

Such trading conditions suggested the benchmark index could fall back to the range of 840-843 points as investors would take their cautious stance to wait for better opportunities, the company added.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX Index fell 0.45 per cent to end at 105.98 points. It gained 0.13 per cent on Friday.

More than 42.3 million shares were exchanged on the northern market, worth VNĐ585.6 billion. — VNS