An investor at An Bình Securities Co. Local shares edged up on Wednesday while trading eased ahead of the national holidays. - Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI — Local shares gained slightly on Wednesday ahead of a short break as investors remained cautious because of the market’s uncertain prospects.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the benchmark VN-Index rose 0.25 per cent to end at 769.11 points.

The VN-Index had fallen a total of 1.22 per cent in the first two trading days of the week.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange increased by 0.54 per cent to close Wednesday at 106.84 points, recovering from a two-day decline of 0.66 per cent.

More than 302.3 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ4.55 trillion (US$194 million).

Nearly 259 million shares were traded in the order-matching method, worth VNĐ3.63 trillion.

Vietnamese stock markets will be closed on Thursday and Friday for a national holiday. The country will celebrate the 45th Reunification Day on April 30 and the International Labour Day on May 1.

The local markets rebounded from a two-day fall as bank and energy stocks advanced. The two industry indices were up 1.6 per cent and 2.4 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

The best gainers were Vietinbank (CTG), PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), PetroVietnam Coating (PVB), and Vietcombank (VCB).

Those stocks’ growth ranged from 1.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent.

US crude futures West Texas Intermediate (WTI) soared 14.2 per cent to trade at $14 a barrel on Wednesday, boosting confidence in local energy stocks.

Other sectors that also saw share prices rise included retail, rubber, logistics and transportation.

But seafood processing, food and beverage, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and agriculture were sectors that made the markets gain slower.

Foreign investors net-sold total VNĐ500 billion on both local bourses.

The VN-Index and HNX-Index struggled during the day and it proved investors were unwilling to jump in due to potential risks, Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co (SHS) said in its daily report.

“Liquidity increased from the previous day but was still lower than 20-day average. It is clear investors were held back ahead of the short break,” the company said.

The May-ending VN30 futures, which refer to potential development of the large-cap tracker VN30-Index, gained 8.5 points to end Wednesday at 702.50 points but it was still 12.83 points lower than VN30-Index’s ending of 715.33 points.

“Investors were still worried about a correction,” SHS said. — VNS