PetroVietnam Gas Corporation’s tanks at Thị Vải Refrigerated LPG Storage in the central province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu. PV Gas was the biggest gainer on the VN30 on Friday with growth of 1.2 per cent. -- Photo pvgas.com.vn

HÀ NỘI – Both the VN-Index and HNX-Index closed the week in the green but prolonged net selling by foreign investors was denting investor confidence in the market in the short run.
On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index increased 0.45 per cent to close Friday at 991.84 points.
On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.1 per cent to end at 105.26 points.
Ending Friday, the two stock indices increased just marginally compared to the end of last week.
Liquidity improved with nearly 192 million shares worth a total VNĐ5.3 trillion (US$227 million), up 5 per cent in volume and 29 per cent in value against Thursday’s figures.
Blue chips continued to be the market’s pillar as 16 of the top 30 shares by market value on HCM City’s bourse (VN30) gained while only seven lost. Another seven ended flat.
Of which, five of the six largest shares by market value grew, keeping the VN-Index afloat. The gainers included PV Gas, Vingroup, Vinamilk, Vinhome, Vietcombank and Sabeco with growth of between 0.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent each.
Other large caps with increases of more than 1 per cent included budget carrier Vietjet, Phú Nhuận Jewelry, Sacombank and Hồ Chí Minh Development Bank.
However, foreign investors were net sellers in all of the five trading sessions this week with a value of VNĐ218 billion.
They were responsible for total net sell value of combined VNĐ78.8 billion on Friday, of which VNĐ70 billion worth of shares were offloaded in HCM City’s market. This was the 14th net selling session of the foreign sector in the southern market for a total value of nearly VNĐ1.5 trillion.
“The market will continuously experience a wide divergence among stock sectors, depending on third-quarter earnings results. We forecast that banks, retail sales, real estate, electricity, natural rubber and tyre rubber will achieve positive profit in Q3,” said Trần Xuân Bách, a stock analyst at Bảo Việt Securities.
He forecast the VN-Index would likely fluctuate with alternate ups and downs between 980-1,004 points.
However, according to analysts at Viet Dragon Securities Co, Vietnamese stocks are moving sideways in a narrow range, thus it is really hard to get into upside-trend stocks.
“We don’t see any leading sectors now. Therefore, investors need to be patient and observe the market in order to make appropriate decisions,” they said in a daily report. – VNS