An investor watches stocks move on a computer screen. Vietnamese shares recovered for a second day on Tuesday as hopes for stimulus packages boosted stock purchasing. - Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI – Vietnamese shares advanced for a second day running as hopes for economic stimulation boosted stock purchases but foreign selling still weighed on the market.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.70 per cent to close Tuesday at 890.61 points.

The VN-Index edged up 0.25 per cent on Monday.

The market uptrend was maintained by hopes governments and central banks will give stimulus packages to boost the global economy, which has been hit by COVID-19, MB Securities Co (MBS) said in its daily report.

The improvement of virus treatment in China also lifted the market sentiment, the brokerage said.

Asia-Pacific and US markets’ strong growth had positive impact on the Vietnamese market, MBS said.

Banks were the main driving factor as the sector index was up nearly 2 per cent.

The best-performing bank stocks on HoSE were Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Military Bank (MBB) and VPBank (VPB).

Those stocks rose between 0.9 per cent and 3.9 per cent.

Other well-gaining sectors included seafood processing, rubber, plastics and chemicals, insurance, securities, and construction.

The recent gains may bring the VN-Index back to the 910-915 point zone as bank stocks would play a major role luring investors back to the market, MBS forecast.

Banks would benefit from the global markets’ improvement as central banks would lower lending rates and pump more cash into the economy to pick-up corporate performance, the company said.

But trading liquidity and net foreign selling are among the factors that would keep weighing on the market, according to MBS.

More than 212.7 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ3.96 trillion (US$170.3 million).

The figure included more than 176.3 million shares being traded in order-matching transactions, worth VNĐ2.92 trillion.

Foreign investors on Tuesday net-sold VNĐ269 billion worth of local shares. Foreign investors have net-sold local stocks for the last 16 trading days.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index increased by 1.73 per cent to end at 112.58 points.

The HNX-Index has rallied a total of nearly 5.60 per cent in four straight days since last Thursday.

More than 80 million shares were exchanged on the northern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ925 billion. – VNS