Shrimp processed at Cửu Long Fish JSC (ACL) in Trà Vinh Province's Trà Vinh City. ACL rose 2.9 per cent on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

 HÀ NỘI — Shares eked out gains on Friday buoyed by the upswing of the aquaculture stock group and cash flow injected into a number of mid-cap and small-cap stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 1.55 per cent to end at 868.56 points.

It had gained 0.1 per cent to end Thursday at 855.27 points.

More than 440 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ6.2 trillion (US$266.2 million).

Market breadth on HoSE was positive with 298 gainers and 103 decliners.

The blue-chip share tracker VN30-Index climbed 1.41 per cent to 808.28 points.

Twenty-two of the 30 largest stocks by market valuation and trading liquidity increased while four decreased.

In the VN30 basket, notable gainers were Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), Novaland (NVL), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Sabeco (SAB), all increasing by more than 1 per cent.

The aquaculture group outperformed with Sao Ta Foods Joint Stock Company (FMC) increasing by 5.9 per cent, Cửu Long Fish Joint Stock Company (ACL) rising by 2.9 per cent and Vĩnh Hoàn Corporation (VHC) climbing by 1.9 per cent.

A number of mid-cap and small-cap stocks received strong cash flow on Friday. Property developer LDG Investment JSC (LDG), Quảng Bình Import & Export JSC (QBS), Tiến Bộ Group JSC and Digiworld Corporation (DGW) hit the daily limit rise of 7 per cent.

On a sector basis, 23 out of 25 sectors on the stock market posted gains, including wholesale, insurance, real estate, information and technology, banking, rubber production, seafood production and logistics, securities, retail, healthcare, energy, agriculture and construction.

"The market is forecast to fluctuate with a wide divergence among stock sectors next week, between 840-845 and 883-888 points," said Bảo Việt Securities Company.

"The index may possibly face correction pressure during early sessions of the week before recovering toward resistance of 883-888 points," the company said.

According to Thành Công Securities Co, investors should focus on risk management, maintaining a reasonable proportion of stocks in their portfolios.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was up 2.33 per cent to close Friday at 115.36 points.

It had lost 0.75 per cent to close Thursday at 112.41 points.

More than 52.4 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ513.5 billion.

Foreign investors net sold VNĐ48.36 billion on HOSE. They were net sellers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ420 million.— VNS