PV Power's Vung Ang II thermal power plant, Hà Tĩnh Province. The company shares surged on Friday, hitting the maximum daily gain of 7 per cent. VNS/VNA Photo.

HÀ NỘI — Shares edged higher on the last trading day of the week as the VN-Index pared losses.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 0.01 per cent to finish Friday at 1,168.69 points. The index extended the previous losses in the morning session, down 0.22 per cent. 

The market breadth turned positive as 264 stocks increased while 169 stocks dropped. And 67 stocks ended flat. More than 594.8 million shares were traded Friday, worth nearly VNĐ15 trillion. 

In a daily report, Bảo Việt Securities Co. said that the index might return to test a supporting territory of 1,150 - 1,155 points. The analyst from the securities firm assessed the level as a resistance territory that helps the market recover.

"However, if the index falls under this resistance territory, it will test the supporting level of 1,100 - 1,200 points. In general, we assessed that the market's recent losses were necessary for investors to gather strength to break through the peak of 1,200 points," Bảo Việt Securities said. 

While the VN30-Index posted a decrease of 0.04 per cent, it pared some morning losses. The 30 large-cap tracker VN-Index declined 0.04 per cent to close Friday at 1,173.83 points after dropping 0.31 per cent in the morning session. 

Of the 30 biggest stocks, 10 stocks rose and 15 stocks fell. While big stocks from banking and real estate posted poor performance, oil and gas stocks continued their morning rally. 

Top five stocks supporting the market trend were PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (GAS), PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW) and Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), Vietnam Rubber Group - JSC (GVR) and Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN). 

Meanwhile, the losses in Vinhomes JSC (VHM), down 1.6 per cent, Vietcombank (VCB), down 0.92 per cent, Vingroup JSC (VIC), down 0.56 per cent and JSC Bank For Investment And Development of Việt Nam (BID), down 0.82 per cent pared the market's rally. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index rose 1.58 per cent to 259.8 points. The HNX30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks on the northern bourse, also climbed 1.52 per cent, equivalent to 5.72 points, to 382.14 points. 

Domestic investors poured over VNĐ2.5 trillion into HNX, with a trading volume of nearly 158 million shares. 

In general, the market's liquidity was really high with total trading volume of over 752.8 million shares in the two exchanges, worth nearly VNĐ17.5 trillion. 

On the other hand, foreign investors continued to flee the market. They net sold a value of more than VNĐ1.34 trillion on the southern market and a value of VNĐ8.1 trillion on the northern bourse.

HoSE still struggled with overloading orders during the session. —VNS