Workers operate a steel pipe production line at a factory of Hoà Phát Group (HPG). HPG soared 5.3 per cent on Tuesday morning. — Photo hoaphat.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares ended on a positive note on Tuesday morning but in the afternoon session Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange shut down due to high transaction value affecting system safety.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index gained 0.73 per cent to close the morning session at 1,337.78 points. The market breadth was negative as 244 stocks declined, while 169 stocks gained.

The liquidity was extraordinarily high with over 629.4 million shares traded on the southern market, worth nearly VNĐ21.8 trillion, leading to an alarm on the safety of the system.

With the approval of the State Securities Commission, HoSE announced it would stop trading in the afternoon session Tuesday as trading value had skyrocketed to a surprisingly high level. This is the first time HOSE has actively suspended transactions to protect its trading system.

HoSE requested member securities companies to notify investors when the next instructions are made.

According to financial news site cafef.vn, system overload occurred on every trade platform, not only on exchange floors of brokerages but also on trading websites and mobile trading apps.

Investors who want to place orders must place orders through brokers, it said. Some even could not log in because the traffic was too high.

The stock market has undergone very active trading in the past two weeks with the value of transactions on HoSE rising for the past five consecutive sessions, from VNĐ19 trillion to more than VNĐ23 trillion, causing continuous congestion.

The VN30-Index rose 0.55 per cent in the morning session to 1,482.92 points. Of the VN30 basket, 16 stocks decreased while 14 rose.

The uptrend of the indices continued to support the market. Vietcombank (VCB) increased by 5.2 per cent to VNĐ103,700 per share. Hòa Phát Group (HPG) soared 5.3 per cent to trade at VNĐ55,500 per share.

Banking stocks like VIBank (VIB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), HDBank (HDB) and Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) also gained.

The steel group also continued to attract strong cash flow with Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Nam Kim Group (NKG) and Pomina (POM) all gaining.

Oil and gas stocks such as PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Service Corporation (PVD), Petrochemical and Bio-Fuel JSC (PVB), PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC), PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT) and Bình Sơn Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) also made gains in the context of a good recovery in world oil prices and many oil and gas projects being implemented recently.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index dropped 0.21 per cent to 317.18 points. — VNS