A Hòa Phát Group's steel factory in Hải Dương Province. The steel maker's shares jumped 4.8 per cent on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares extended gains for a third day in a row on upbeat market sentiment amid the increasing number of virus infection cases.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 1.24 per cent to close Wednesday at 837.80 points, totalling a three-day rally of 4.94 per cent.

Construction material companies led the market growth on Wednesday as the sector index jumped 4.3 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

Steel producers Hòa Phát (HPG), Hoa Sen (HSG) and Nam Kim Steel rose between 2.9 per cent and 5.7 per cent.

Other stocks in the sector such as Bỉm Sơn Cement (BCC), Hà Tiên 1 Cement (HT1) and Vicostone (VCS) also made big gains.

The construction sector index was also up 1.3 per cent.

The strong gain of the two sectors was attributed to higher disbursement of the State budget in the January-July period into public investment projects.

According to the Ministry of Finance, total spending of the State budget by July 31 was VNĐ216.54 trillion, equal to 35.6 per cent of the full-year plan.

In addition, the sectors were also boosted by speculations about the Ministry of Transport completing procedures to start the three projects, which were approved by the National Assembly in June to turn from private-public-invested to State-funded, in late September.

Oil and gas stocks also moved up on the growth of oil prices. Brent crude rose 2.5 per cent to trade at US$45.53 a barrel.

Among local oil and gas firms, PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) edged up 0.7 per cent, PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) jumped 3.6 per cent, and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) was up 2.6 per cent.

Other groups of stocks that performed well included retail (up 2.5 per cent), banking (up 1.5 per cent), logistics and transportation (up 1.8 per cent), and consumer staples (up 1.0 per cent).

The total number of COVID-19 infection cases in Việt Nam as of Wednesday was 713, of which eight patients have died.

According to Trương Văn Phước, member of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory group, if the virus spread is contained in August, Việt Nam’s economic growth could be 3.5-4 per cent this year.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 1.35 per cent to end Wednesday at 114.02 points, totalling a three-day growth of 6.05 per cent.

More than 354 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ5.95 trillion (US$258 million).

Foreign investors net-bought total VNĐ15 billion worth of local shares.

According to Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co (SHS), the market sentiment remained positive on Wednesday given increased trading liquidity.

But technically, the VN-Index had not beaten the short-term resistance of 840 points, which indicates investors still believe the market would go down soon, the company said. — VNS