Investors at An Binh Securities Trading Floor. — VNA/VNS Photo

Vietnamese markets had a good start on Monday thanks to the performance of large-cap stocks but momentum narrowed in the afternoon.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange rose 0.48 per cent to close at 962.90 points.

On the southern exchange, 158 stocks advanced while 132 declined.

Nearly 155 million shares were traded on the bourse, worth VNĐ3.8 trillion (US$164 million).

The benchmark index lost 0.17 per cent last week.

Insurance, stock brokerages, real estate, petroleum and mining, retail and technology were among the best-performing sectors in the morning session.

Those sector indices gained between 0.36 per cent and 0.76 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

In the morning, the VN-Index increased with the buying force focused on blue-chips such as Vietcombank (VCB), Vingroup (VIC) and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS). In the afternoon session, the gaining trend in the morning session was narrowed because the selling force continued to increase in Vinhomes (VHM), Techcombank (TCB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The large-cap VN30-Index was up 0.34 per cent to end at 872.49 points with 18 of the 30 largest stocks by market value and trading liquidity progressing.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped 0.20 per cent to end at 103.99 points.

The northern market index fell a total of 0.13 per cent last week.

More than 20.7 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ243 billion.

Foreign investors today bought a net VNĐ174.51 billion on HOSE, focusing on Vingroup (VIC) (VNĐ54.14 billion), Vietcombank (VCB) (VNĐ19.4 billion) and PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW) (VNĐ18.3 billion). In addition, they bought a net VNĐ3.5 billion on the HNX.

According to Bảo Việt Securities Company (BVSC), the market is expected to face volatility and correction around the resistance zone of 965-968 points in several sessions.

“If successfully passing this zone, the next destination will be the support zone of 977- 983 points. This is a strong resistance zone and will challenge the market’s increase. Therefore, the market may face risk of decline in the aforementioned resistance zone,” it said.

Cashflow is rotating among stock groups with macro-economic benefits, including textiles, industrial zone real estate, electricity, and information technology, BVSC said

Bank stocks are heading toward resistance zones and might move sideways in the coming sessions. Oil and gas stocks are expected to incur volatility in their recovery, it added.

Investors can consider raising stock exposure to 30-40 per cent of the portfolio. Investors should hold off on buying stocks at high prices and might consider selling stocks in the resistance zone of 965-968 points. — VNS