A Vietcombank office in Bắc Ninh Province. VCB rose 4.1 per cent on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thái Hùng

Vietnamese shares extended gains on Friday, setting a new historical high thanks to a strong investment cash flow and foreign investors’ net buying.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index gained 1.31 per cent, to close Friday at 1,377.77 points, the highest milestone ever so far. Market breadth was positive with 249 stocks increasing while 138 declined.

The southern market index had gained 0.25 per cent to close Thursday at 1,359.92 points. 

Market liquidity was higher than Thursday as domestic investors poured more than VNĐ23.7 trillion (US$1 billion) into the southern market, equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 809 million shares.

The VN30-Index rose 1.33 per cent to 1,481.30 points. In the VN30 basket, 22 stocks rose, seven slid and one was unchanged.

Hoàng Huy Investment Financial Services JSC (TCH) gained strongly by 6 per cent. Vietcombank (VCB) rose more than 4 per cent, Masan Group (MSN) and Vinhomes (VHM) both gained 3 per cent, Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ) advanced over 2 per cent.

In contrast, insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) and Vincom Retail (VRE) declined more than 1 per cent.

PVPower (POW), the Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE), Vietjet (VJC) and Vietnam National Petroleum Group (PLX) were the remaining losers. Meanwhile, SSI closed at the reference price.

After quiet trading in previous sessions, many banking stocks gained positively. Besides Vietcombank (VCB), Nam Á Bank (NAB) also rose more than 4 per cent, Eximbank (EIB) and An Bình Bank (ABB) both rose 2 per cent, HDBank (HDB),  Techcombank (TCB), Military Bank (MBB), Maritime Bank (MSB), Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SSB), Saigonbank (SGB), Vietinbbank (CTG) and Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) were the ones that gained over 1 per cent.

“VN-Index gradually increased from the beginning of the morning session to the end of the afternoon session and has now set a new historical high. Investment cash flow continued to increase,” said BIDV Securities CO.

“Meanwhile, foreign investors were net buyers on the HoSE and net sellers on the HNX. Besides, market breadth remained positive with liquidity not much different from the previous session.

“According to our assessment, VN-Index is likely to maintain its upward momentum and move in the 1,350-1,390 area next week,” it said.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index gained 0.52 per cent to close Friday at 318.73 points.

It gained 1.09 per cent to close Thursday at 317.07 points.

During the trading session, nearly 139.6 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth more than VNĐ3 trillion. — VNS