Workers of PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS). GAS rose 4.6 per cent on Wednesday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Shares gained on Wednesday as investors continued to look for signs of an economic recovery in the near future.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange rose 3.32 per cent to end the session at 1,111.29 points. It had gained 3.86 to end Tuesday at 1,075.53 points.

More than 703 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ15.9 trillion (US$690.7 million).

A new report on Việt Nam's macroeconomics and GDP was recently released by Cấn Văn Lực and researchers from the BIDV Training and Research Institute, an academic branch of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam. 

In 2021, the world economy is forecast to recover stronger thanks to the better control over the COVID-19 pandemic and the development and distribution of vaccines, the report said.

Countries would continue to roll out stimulus packages, supporting policies and start a faster recovery path after a long time facing the disease, it said.

In a positive scenario, the report predicted Việt Nam's GDP growth in 2021 could reach 7.5-8 per cent with the main drivers exports, up 10-12 per cent, investment capital, up 5-6 per cent, and consumption, up 10-11 per cent and Government spending, up 2-2.5 per cent.

Under a less positive scenario, Việt Nam's GDP growth in 2021 will only reach 4-4.5 per cent with exports only increasing 4-5 per cent, investment capital up 4.5-5 per cent, consumption rising 2- 3 per cent and Government spending only up 1-2 per cent.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index was up 3.55 per cent to 1,117.98 points.

Twenty-nine of the 30 large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket increased while one declined.

A number of blue-chips attracted cash flow such as Vietinbank (CTG), FPT Corporation (FPT), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Masan Group (MSN), Vietcombank (VCB), Vinamilk (VNM), Sabeco (SAB), VPBank (VPB), HDBank (HDB) and Techcombank (TCB).

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 3.84 per cent to 223.62 points. It had climbed 3.12 per cent to end Tuesday at 215.36 points.

More than 134 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ1.8 trillion.

The upcoming long holiday may limit cashflow and overall, the index is entering a short-term recovery, yet may face a wide divergence, said BIDV Securities Co.

Stock exposure should be raised to 50-70 per cent of total investment. Investors with high cash proportion may consider raising short-term positions during the market’s correction. Investors with large stock proportion may take advantage of the market’s rallies to lower the stock proportion, the company said. — VNS