Ice cream made by Kido Frozen Foods JSC (KDF). The company's shares surged 6.67 per cent on Monday on its merger deal with food business Kido Group (KDC). — Photo cafef.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares moved steadily upwards on Monday despite negative movements among Asian markets as the hunt for good quarterly corporate earnings intensified.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.74 per cent to end at 859.04 points.

The southern market index increased by a total of 3.11 per cent last week.

The minor HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange rose nearly 2.0 per cent to close at 109.15 points.

The HNX-Index fell 1.81 per cent last week.

More than 356 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ6.45 trillion (US$277 million).

The local markets soared despite bad news from international markets about the continuous economic and political tensions between China and the US.

Shares in securities, mining and energy, retail, real estate, and food and beverage firms were among the best performing.

These sectors' indices were up between 0.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

Large-cap companies in those sectors boosted the market. The large-cap tracker VN30-Index increased by 0.51 per cent.

Seventeen of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity in the VN30 basket advanced, while only eight declined.

Top gainers included dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), SSI Securities (SSI), real estate firm Vincom Retail (VRE), retailer Mobile World Investment (MWG), and Vietinbank (CTG), which rose between 1.1 per cent and 2.8 per cent.

The market was divided with investors hunting for companies that are expected to report good earnings from the first quarter despite the coronavirus, analysts said.

Companies with a good financial status and risk management may have a better chance to bounce back from the downturn caused by the disease, VietCapital Securities’ brokerage director Châu Thiên Trúc Quỳnh said.

Those companies operated in the utilities, real estate and infrastructure development, and banking sectors, she said.

Nguyễn Thế Minh, director of market analysis at Yuanta Vietnam Securities, said food and beverage companies were also good options for investors.

Stocks with their own stories also helped lift the market.

Kido Group (KDC) edged up 0.7 per cent after announcing it planned to merge with its ex-confectionery arm Kido Frozen Foods JSC (KDF).

Kido Frozen Foods' shares soared 6.67 per cent on Monday. — VNS