Workers load packages for transport at the PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemical Corporation. The company's shares jumped 3.8 per cent on Tuesday after having dived 6.8 per cent in the previous five trading days. — Photo kinhtedothi.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares edged up on Tuesday as investors went fishing for stocks that had been hit hard in previous days.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.22 per cent to close at 968.00 points.

The VN-Index inched down 0.04 per cent on Monday.

Nearly 155 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ4.13 trillion (US$177.5 million).

The market breadth improved in comparison to Monday with 156 gaining stocks and 122 decliners.

According to Thành Công Securities JSC (TCSC), trading was cautious on Tuesday as investors were concerned with the market’s short-term prospects.

A slight increase in trading liquidity on Tuesday compared to previous days proved investors started scooping stocks up, especially those that had fallen sharply, TCSC said in its daily report.

Insurance-finance, real estate, tech firms, and plastic and rubber producers were the major driving factors of the stock market on Tuesday.

The five industry indices rose between 0.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Large-cap stocks were mixed with the blue-chip VN30-Index ending Tuesday at 878.29 points.

Fourteen of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket advanced while 11 declined.

Among the 14 gaining large-cap stocks, Sacombank (STB) and PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemical Corporation (DPM) jumped 4.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively.

The two companies’ shares had dropped total 4.5 per cent and 6.8 per cent in the previous five trading days.

In addition, oil and gas stocks continued rising as crude prices advanced further on global trade.

Brent crude was up 0.6 per cent to trade at $74.53 a barrel.

But the slight growth of the VN-Index meant investors were only scanning for stocks’ bottom levels, TCSC added.

Investors were not yet willing to make big purchases as bottom-fishing occurred only in some individual stocks, not the whole market, TCSC added.

“It means investors are not confident enough in a strong rebound of the stock market in the short term,” the company said.

On the opposite side, seafood processors and consumer staple firms still weighed on the market.

Securities firms also extended losses following their recent lower-than-expected Q1 earnings reports and modest full-year earnings forecast for 2019.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index grew by 0.62 per cent to finish at 106.29 points.

The northern market index slid 0.23 per cent on Monday.

More than 29.5 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ370 billion. — VNS