HÀ NỘI – Shares cooled down a little on Friday on the HCM Stock Exchange after a “crazy” session on Thursday, backed by strong growth of finance stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index ended up 1 per cent at 1,115.64, a second rally after a two-day shutdown due to the technical crash on Monday’s afternoon trade. The southern market index gained nearly 5 per cent in three sessions this week.

Liquidity declined steeply on HCM City’s exchange but remained at high levels, totaling 293 million shares worth VNĐ9.3 trillion (roughly US$408 million), down 43 per cent in volume and 35 per cent in value compared to Thursday.

Banking stocks continued to perform well but at a slower pace. Six of eight listed lenders rallied while only two (VPBank and HDBank) ended in the negative.

BIDV (BID) hit the daily rise limit of 7 per cent, followed by Military Bank (MBB)—up over 6 per cent. The two biggest banks by market value – Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG) – increased by 2 per cent each.

“We think it is difficult to pick banking stocks based only on their fundamental valuation. However, if we look at other aspects including the capital movement, we believe banking stocks are still a good choice,” said Sơn Trần, a stock analyst at Viet Dragon Securities Co.

In a market review on Friday, Sơn forecast the correction in the banking group will not be severe.

Brokerage stocks were also good choice considering the relentlessly increasing market, he said, noting HCM Securities Co (HCM) also rose by the maximum 7 per cent.

Brokerage firms are divided into two groups with the first including big companies such as Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), HCM, Viet Capital Securities (VCI) and VNDirect Securities (VND). The second group, called ‘emerging’ players, includes Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities (SHS), Bảo Việt Securities (BVS), Viet Dragon Securities (VDS), FPT Securities (FTS) and MB Securities (MBS).

“Depending on preferences, investors can choose between famous companies and high potential mid-small groups,” Sơn said.

Shares also closed higher on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange on Friday with the HNX-Index edging up 0.16 per cent at 126.82 points. The northern market index increased 3.6 per cent in five sessions this week.

Nearly 74 million shares worth VNĐ1.24 trillion ($54.4 million) were traded, down 27 per cent in both trading volume and value compared with Thursday’s levels. – VNS