Workers at PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW). POW hit its ceiling price on Tuesday. — Photo petrovietnam.petrotimes.vn

HÀ NỘI — The escalation of the US-China trade war continued to cast a shadow over global markets on Tuesday, but Vietnamese shares still posted gains.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.71 per cent to end at 965.34 points.

Liquidity improved and stayed above the 20-day average, meaning that cash flow was gradually returning to the market. More than 158 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ3.5 trillion (US$149 million).

The index inched up 0.63 per cent on Monday to end the day at 958.54 points.

The VN-Index adjusted in the morning due to the negative sentiment of investors amid the strong slump of the US market during Monday’s overnight trading.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.38 per cent to 25,324.99, the S&P 500 lost 2.41 per cent to 2,811.87 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.41 per cent to 7,647.02.

On Monday, China announced it would put higher tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods after Washington’s decision last week to increase its own tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. China’s response put pressure on US shares.

In the afternoon, purchasing demand stabilised the local market and supported indices, protecting the Vietnamese market from global negativity.

The large-cap VN30-Index was up 0.34 per cent to 882.67 points with 18 stocks rising out of the 30 largest by market capitalisation.

Large-cap gainers included insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM) and brewery Sabeco (SAB).

Food and beverage, mining, insurance and construction materials were among the best-performing industries.

Their indices rose by between 0.1 and 2.14 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Gainers in the mining group included PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) and PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW).

Notably, POW hit the daily gain limit of 7 per cent on Tuesday after the news that MSCI Frontier Markets Index added the stock to its portfolio.

Real estate, securities, banking, construction and agriculture were among the worst-performing industries.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.08 per cent to close at 105.70 points.

Around 37.2 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ524 billion.

According to Bảo Việt Securities Company, the VN-Index is expected to post gains and head toward the resistance zone of 966-972 points in the next session.

The market may experience volatility and correction pressure, especially when foreign investors continue their net-selling trend, it said.

Foreign investors on Tuesday net sold VNĐ212.4 billion of shares on the HOSE, focusing on Vinhomes (VHM) (VNĐ84.5 billion), Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) (VNĐ42 billion) and Vingroup (VIC) (VNĐ17.5 billion). They net sold VNĐ28.4 billion on the HNX. — VNS