Hòa Phát Group's factory in Hưng Yên Province. The steelmaker topped the shares affecting the VN-Index on Tuesday with growth of 6.8 per cent. — VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

HÀ NỘI — Shares bounced back strongly in the afternoon session on Tuesday, driven by increasing demand at the support price levels.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index increased 2.39 per cent to close Tuesday at 1,273.29 points. The southern market’s index plummeted by more than 4 per cent on Monday.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange also climbed 3.1 per cent to end the day at 301.11 points. The northern market’s index fell 5.1 per cent in the previous session.

Liquidity dropped substantially, however, with 675 million shares worth almost VNĐ20.4 trillion (US$877.6 million) traded on the two exchanges. These numbers represented a drop of 21.6 per cent in volume and 17.4 per cent in value compared to Monday’s levels.

The market breadth was positive with 418 stocks rising, 150 declining and 235 unchanged.

All sectors recovered with 24 out of 25 industries tracked by vietstock.vn gaining value, of which securities companies were the biggest gainers with an average growth of 6.22 per cent.

Only one of 26 listed brokerage firms lost value while 23 increased between 2-9 per cent. Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), the biggest firm by market value, hit the daily growth limit of 7 per cent on the HCM City exchange, closing Tuesday at VNĐ57,700 ($2.49) per share.

Other sectors such as insurance, banking, retail and construction material, plastics manufacturing also gained substantially.

Steelmaker Hòa Phát Group (HPG) topped the shares affecting the VN-Index on Tuesday with a growth of 6.8 per cent.

Among the top 10 most influential stocks, four were banks, including Vietcombank (VCB), up 3.3 per cent; BIDV (BID), up 3.4 per cent; Techcombank (TCB), up 3.1 per cent; and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), up 5.4 per cent.

Other big gainers also included Vinhomes (VHM), up 2.2 per cent; Vietnam Rubber Group (VGR), up 5.5 per cent; PV Gas (GAS), up 2.7 per cent; Masan Group (MSN), up 3 per cent; and Mobile World Investment (MWG), up 5.2 per cent.

The VN-Index had slumped in seven sessions since early this month with two sessions losing nearly 4 per cent which pushed prices of many stocks down steeply, attracting bargain hunters.

“The level of 1,205 points is a strong support level for the VN-Index in the short term. It is likely that the ‘bottom-fishing’ cash flow will increase significantly when the index drops back to this support level and might help the market recover,” said Phương Nguyễn, a stock analyst at Viet Dragon Securities Co.

Phương suggested investors should temporarily stop selling and may consider accumulating good stocks when the market retreats to the strong support area of 1,205 points.

Foreign traders were mixed on Tuesday. They were net sellers with a net value of VNĐ308.2 billion on HCM City’s bourse but were net buyers on Hà Nội’s exchange with a net value of VNĐ343 billion. — VNS