Hòa Phát steel sheets at its factory. Hoà Phát Group (HPG) rose 1.9 per cent on Monday. — Photo courtesy of the group

HÀ NỘI — Shares had a good start on Monday thanks to an upbeat market sentiment in the wake of fewer COVID-19 infection cases reported in the country.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 1.63 per cent to end Monday at 868.68 points.

The market liquidity continued to rise compared to the previous session with more than 381.5 million shares were traded on the southern exchange, worth VNĐ6.6 trillion (US$284.7 million).

The market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering decliners by 332 to 84.

By 6pm Monday, there were six new community transmission cases confirmed in Việt Nam. The country has recorded 1,022 patients, with 588 of them having recovered. Its death toll is 27. A majority of the COVID-19 fatalities in Việt Nam have involved chronic kidney disease patients and others have had other comorbidities, including cancer.

According to Thành Công Securities Company, if the cash flow continues to be injected into the market, the VN-Index is likely to climb to higher resistance levels at the 880-900 point range with support from large-cap stocks.

The large-cap VN30-Index, which tracks the performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and liquidity on HoSE, rose 2.03 per cent to 809.69 points.

Twenty-eight of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity in the VN30 basket increased while only two ended flat.

Among the best large-cap performers were Vingroup (VIC), rising 3.4 per cent, Vietcombank (VCB), gaining 1.2 per cent, VPBank (VPB), soaring 5.9 per cent, Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), going up 1.8 per cent, Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX), rising 4.2 per cent, brewery Sabeco (SAB), climbing 1.9 per cent, Techcombank (TCB), gaining 2.9 per cent, PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), up 1.4 per cent, Vinhomes (VHM), rising 0.6 per cent and Vinamilk (VNM), edging up 0.8 per cent.

On a sector basis, 21 out of 25 sector indices on the stock market gained ground, including real estate, insurance, banking, securities, insurance, information and technology, agriculture, logistics, seafood processing, food and beverage and construction.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index grew 0.43 per cent to end Monday at 123.16 points.

More than 61.7 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth over VNĐ788 billion. — VNS