Shares opened higher this week on both national stock exchanges, boosted by large-cap stocks, but investors showed caution over easing liquidity.

On Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index added 7.53 percent, or as much as 1.27 percent, to close at 600.57 points.

The gain came mainly from blue chips, including Vinamilk (VNM), which advanced 2.1 percent to reach 148,000 VND (7.04 USD) per share, and PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (GAS), which gained 3.5 percent to close at 89,500 VND (4.2 USD).

With 22 stocks out of the southern bourse's 30 largest shares by capitalisation and liquidity adding value on April 7, the VN30-Index rose by 0.85 percent to reach 672.97 points.

Other gainers included PetroVietnam Drilling Corporation (PVD), insurance Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), technology giant FPT Group (FPT) and Hoa Phat Group (HPG). Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Masan Group (MSN) also gained.

Only four codes posted losses on April 7: Vietinbank (CTG), Sacombank (STB), real estate giant Vingroup (VIC) and PetroVietnam Fertilisers and Chemicals Corporation (DPM).

Although overall on the southern bourse, gainers doubled losers, investors were showing caution, wondering whether the market was in a bull trap as the benchmark index was boosted mainly by large-cap stocks.

The capital inflow returned to the midcap and penny stocks in the afternoon trading. However, the market liquidity eased over last week with 115.6 million shares changing hands, with a total value of 2.38 trillion VND (113.3 million USD), as investors were cautious that the market might drop after the VN-Index reached the 600-point level.

According to Vietnam Investment Securities, the 600-point level would continue to challenge the market on April 8. However, the company believed that with the support of blue chips, the benchmark index would post a slight gain.

FLC Join Stock Company (FLC) was the most active stock on the southern bourse by trading volume, seen rising 6.7 percent to its ceiling price of 15,900 VND (0.75 USD), with 15.6 million shares traded on April 7.

On Hanoi Exchange, shares reversed the morning loss, closing higher with the HNX-Index adding 0.64 percent to reach 87.32 points, while the HNXFF-Index, tracking stocks with a minimum free-float rate of 5 percent, ended at 88.68 points, rising 0.77 percent.

Blue chips also supported the gains on the northern bourse on April 7 with the HNX30-Index, composed of the top stocks, finishing 1.53 percent higher to close at 181.46 points.

With nearly 72.8 million shares traded, the trading value reached 801 billion VND (38.14 million USD).

Foreign investors, after concluding last week as net buyers, returned to net selling on April 7. The net selling volume and value of the foreign investors was 886,050 million shares and 104.96 billion VND (4.99 million USD) respectively.-VNA