A customer at one of TPBank's branches. TPBank shares rose 6.25 per cent on Tuesday, supporting the VN-Index's upward trend. Photo tpb.vn

HÀ NỘI — The market benchmark VN-Index finished higher in Tuesday's trade but faced strong selling pressure during the session.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index climbed 0.04 per cent to 1,186.61 points. The index experienced a volatile session.

After rising to break 1,191.77 points earlier in the session, the index dropped on higher selling pressure. However, the VN-Index still closed the trading day with a small gain. 

The trend was widely expected by analysts from securities firms. 

"The VN-Index is expected to gain slightly in the next sessions. The index will test resistance territory of 1,190 - 1,200 points," Bảo Việt Securities Co. wrote in a daily report. 

The market might still face fluctuations and corrections at this resistance level, the firm added. 

The market breadth turned positive with 227 stocks increasing, while 190 stocks declined. And 78 stocks ended flat.

Over 577 million shares were traded today on HoSE, worth over VNĐ15.2 trillion. 

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks on the southern bourse, also increased by 0.24 per cent to 1,194.71 points. Of the 30 large-cap stocks in VN30 basket, twelve stocks rose, while fourteen stocks slid. 

Top stocks supporting the market's upward trend were in materials and banking sectors including Tiền Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPB), up 6.25 per cent, Hoà Phát Group (HPG), up 1.08 per cent, Việt Nam Rubber Group JSC (GVR), up 1.36 per cent, HDBank (HDB), up 3.49 per cent and Việt Nam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), up 2.71 per cent. 

Meanwhile, gas and oil stocks plunged after posting great performance in the previous session. The stocks were PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), dropping 0.98 per cent, PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD), down 1.84 per cent and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), down 2.15 per cent. 

Other big stocks in banking, materials and construction sectors also faced selling pressure including Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (VNM), Vingroup JSC (VIC), Vinhomes JSC (VHM), VPBank (VPB), MBBank (MBB) and VietinBank (CTG).

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index fell 1.76 per cent to end Tuesday's session at 247.94 points. The HNX30-Index also lost 1.72 points, equivalent to 0.46 per cent, to 373.53 points. 

During the session, investors poured over VNĐ2.1 trillion into the northern bourse, with more than 119.48 million shares traded. 

In general, the market's liquidity was high with total trading volume of 744 million shares (including shares traded on UPCOM), worth over VNĐ18.08 trillion. 

On the other hand, foreign investors kept selling out on both HoSE and HNX, with a net sold value of VNĐ731.21 billion on the southern market and a net value of VNĐ46.27 billion on the northern bourse. — VNS