HÀ NỘI — Shares continued to maintain positive momentum Friday amid rising liquidity thanks to strong support of many large cap stocks.

The benchmark index gained 0.17 per cent to end at 1,017.13 points. The benchmark index the VN-Index increased 0.57 per cent to close at 1,015.37 points on Thursday.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index advanced 0.17 per cent to end at 116.28 points. It added 0.44 per cent to end at 116.08 points on Thursday.

Nearly 304.3 million shares, worth more than VNĐ6.9 trillion (US$297 million), were traded across the two markets yesterday.

Overall market conditions were positive with 258 gainers and 229 losers, while another 257 closed unchanged.

Tracking the southern bourse’s largest stocks by capitalisation and liquidity, the VN30-Index added 0.53 per cent to end at 994.73 points.

The benchmark index received support from Kido Group (KDC), brewery Sabeco (SAB), Masan Group (MSN), real estate developer Novaland (NVL), Vinhomes (VHM) and Vincom Retail (VRE). VHM, VRE and NVL were the biggest gainers that subsequently added 3.7 points, 2.4 points, and 1.85 points to the index.

However, the market also underwent strong downward movement in the afternoon. Many large-cap stocks faced profit taking pressure after a long recovery period.

Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG) and Vingroup (VIC) suffered the biggest losses and respectively, causing VN-Index to slide by 1.8 points, 0.64 points, and 0.28 points.

Oil-gas stocks jumped 2.12 per cent, driven by PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD) (+16.29 per cent), Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (PVB) (+8.45 per cent) and PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW) (+5.03 per cent).

Securities and real estate stocks climbed 2.12 per cent and 1.01 per cent respectively thanks to the growth of Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HCM), Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI), Viet Capital Securities Joint Stock Company (VCI), VHM, NVL, and VRE.

Also, bank stocks slightly increased by 0.09 per cent on the rise of STB (+6.3 per cent), TCB (+3 per cent), and VPB (+1.9 per cent).

The General Statistics Office has released GDP results for the third quarter and the first nine months, specifically, GDP in the third quarter increased 6.88 per cent against the same period last year.  

This growth rate was lower than the rate of 7.45 per cent in the first quarter, but higher than 6.73 per cent in the second quarter, indicating the economy’s expansion in Q3 and easing concerns about slower pace of quarterly GDP growth.

According to Bảo Việt Securities Company (BVSC), solid GDP growth in the third quarter and the first nine months has helped reinforce domestic investors’ confidence in Việt Nam’s healthy growth rate, thus boosting their confidence in the market.

Việt Nam’s GDP growth for the entire year 2018 is forecast at 7 per cent, ranking second in Asia with India at the top, BVSC said.

The UPCOM Index (UPCoM) inched up 0.03 per cent to finish at 54.21 points. It gained 0.27 per cent to finish at 54.19 points in the previous session. — VNS