Employees at a branch of Vietinbank (CTG) in Hà Nội. CTG rose 1.03 per cent on Thursday. Photo Vietinbank

HÀ NỘI – Shares ended Thursday on a positive note as foreign buying surged unexpectedly at the end of trading, pushing up a series of large-cap stocks, which helped boost market sentiment.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the benchmark VN-Index rose 0.11 per cent to 1,163.10 points.

The index had dropped 1.83 per cent on Wednesday.

The market's breadth was negative as 245 stocks declined while 205 increased.

Market liquidity was still high with a trading value of more than VNĐ17 trillion, equivalent to some 690.7 million shares traded on the southern market.

“The VN-Index is retesting the support level of 1,160 points as the market maintained its sideways trend today,” said BIDV Securities Co (BSC).

“Investment cash flows into the market with liquidity falling slightly and market breadth were negative, reflecting the cautious trading sentiment.

“The remarkable note in today session was that foreign investors were net buyers on HoSE which focused mainly on Vingroup (VIC) shares,” BSC said.

Foreign investors net bought VNĐ267.74 billion on HOSE, including Vingroup (VIC) (VNĐ756.3 billion), Novaland (NVL) (VNĐ33.2 billion), and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) (VNĐ24 billion). They were net buyers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ3.08 billion.

“The VN-Index is likely to consolidate in the 1,160-1,180 points range and we recommend investors open short-term positions at some VN30 stocks."

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks in market value, increased 0.08 per cent to 1,164.64 points. Twelve of the VN30 basket rose, while 17 stocks decreased.

In the VN-30 basket, notable gainers were Vietinbank (CTG), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Masan Group (MSN), Vietcombank (VCB), Vingroup (VIC), Vietjet (VJC), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) and Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ).

Some other pillar stocks suffered from correcting pressure such as Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), FPT Corporation (FPT), Hoà Phát Group (HPG), Vinamilk (VNM), Vincom Retail (VRE), VPBank (VPB), Mobile World Group (MWG) and Vinhomes (VHM).

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index lost 0.56 per cent to end Thursday at 267.19 points.

It had lost 1.34 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 114.8 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ1.6 trillion. — VNS