HÀ NỘI — The VN-Index gained for a fourth straight session on Thursday thanks to large buying power focused on certain large-caps.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange rose 1.75 per cent to close at 987.57 points.

The southern market index inched up 0.65 per cent to close at 970.58 points on Wednesday.

Nearly 179 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ2.1 trillion (US$91.2 million).

Large-cap stocks performed well, boosting the blue-chip VN30 Index 0.61 per cent to 917.33 points.

Twenty three of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket advanced while seven declined.

Cash flow poured into some pillar stocks such as real estate developer Vinhomes (VHM) (+3.9 per cent), Bank for Investment and Development BID (+3.3 per cent), brewery Sabeco (SAB) (+1.2 per cent), Vingroup (VIC) (+0.4 per cent), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) (+1.9 per cent), Vincom Retail (VRE) (+1.6 per cent), steel maker Hòa Phát Group (HPG) (+1.6 per cent), Vietcombank (VCB) (+0.2 per cent) and Vietinbank (CTG) (+0.5 per cent).

On the other hand, some large-caps fell, including budget carrier Vietjet Air (VJC) (-0.8 per cent), consumer staple Masan Group (MSN) (-0.6 per cent), HDBank (HDB) (-1 per cent) and VPBank (VPB) (-0.2 per cent).

Petroleum stocks continued rising on the expansion of oil prices.

According to reuters.com, global oil prices on Wednesday increased by more than 1 per cent to reach their highest level in 2019 with the expectation that the market will balance at the end of this year.

Oil prices were also lifted thanks to the decrease in top producers’ output and the US’s punishment on Venezuela and Iran.

US crude was last up 0.3 per cent, or 17 cents, at $57.33 per barrel. Brent rose by 0.1 per cent, or 5 cents, to $67.13.

Local gaining energy stocks included PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) and PetroVietnam Power Corp (POW).

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange edged down 0.18 per cent to end at 106.11 points.

The northern market index climbed 0.09 per cent to end at 106.30 points on Wednesday.

More than 32 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ490 billion.

Foreign investors today bought a net of VNĐ258.33 billion on the HOSE, focusing on Hòa Phát Group (HPG) (VNĐ74.05 billion), Masan Group (MSN) (VNĐ53.32 billion) and Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) (VNĐ40.22 billion). In addition, they bought a net of VNĐ23.35 billion on the HNX.

The UPCoM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) extended by 0.12 per cent to close at 55.54 points. 

According to Việt Dragon Securities Company (VDSC), the current trend is still up but a short-term correction may be coming. Traders consider taking partial profits and then waiting to cover stocks at lower prices. — VNS