HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s benchmark VN Index ended Thursday on a positive note as investor sentiment improved slightly, but a volatile market is forecast for the next trading day.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) inched up 0.14 per cent to close at 1,193.17 points. It gained 0.3 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 241 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VNĐ7.85 trillion (US$349 million).

Market breadth was positive with 174 gaining stocks, 121 decliners and 44 stocks unchanged.

According to Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Company (SHS), the recovery of the US stock market on Wednesday night boosted investor confidence in Vietnamese stocks.

However, investors remained cautious with world stocks, including Việt Nam, on fears of a trade war between China and the US.

The same pattern occurred on the Vietnamese stock market as the VN Index began losing when it neared the 1,200-point level again.

Market volatility continued to strike as the VN Index traded between the range of 1,186.75 and 1,199.15 points.

“The VN Index struggled on Thursday and only closed in positive territory thanks to support of some large-cap stocks,” SHS said.

Gaining stocks included HCM City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), property developer Vingroup (VIC), Coteccons Constructio Co (CTD) and food producer Kido (KDC).

“After making a big breakout on Monday to reach its new high of 1,196.61 points, the VN Index has traded marginally in recent days with gradually reduction in market trading liquidity,” SHS said.

It showed investors had remained cautious with current market conditions, even foreign investors as they had made “alternating net buys and sells” while their trading value had declined recently, the brokerage said.

Foreign investors remained buyers on HOSE, posting a total VNĐ1.6 billion in net buy value. On Wednesday, foreign net buy value reached VNĐ143.2 billion.

Among declining stocks were FLC Faros Construction (ROS), Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), budget carrier Vietjet (VJC) and dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM).

Given the volatility, the VN Index would need more supportive data from both local businesses and global markets to maintain its short-term uptrend, SHS said, adding that the VN Index is forecast to rise on Friday to test the 1,200-point level again.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange gained 1.06 per cent to end at 136.75 points, bouncing back from a 0.2 per cent drop with more than 56.8 million shares being traded, worth VNĐ1.22 trillion.

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) dropped 0.07 per cent to finish at 60.42 points. It closed almost flat at 60.46 points on Wednesday. — VNS