Shares extended gains on both the national stock exchanges on May 21, as trading intensified in the afternoon.

The benchmark indices advanced for four days as investors regained confidence following the Government's pledge to ensure stable development of the stock market.

Negative pressures on the market seemingly did not make much of an impact, according to securities companies.

Buying activities intensified in the afternoon trading, with 219 codes in the southern bourse rising, 74 of which closed at their ceiling prices. On the Hanoi Exchange, 191 stocks advanced, 49 of which reached their ceiling prices at the end of the day.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange added 6.36 points or as much as 1.18 percent to finish at 543.88 points, fuelled by both large-cap stocks and speculative stocks.

Nearly 103 million shares changed hands, worth 1.48 trillion VND or 70.4 million USD.

Large-cap stocks posted strong gains, with the HCM City Infrastructure Investment Corporation (CII), Becamex IJC (IJC) and the REE Corporation (REE) rising to their ceiling prices.

The VN30-Index, tracking the southern bourse's top stocks by capitalisation and liquidity, ended up 1.11 percent and closed at 596.82 points.

Twenty-two blue chips advanced, while only six posted losses.

Many property stocks reached their ceiling prices on May 21, including the FLC Group (FLC) and the Hoang Quan Corporation (HQC).

On the Hanoi Exchange, the HNX-Index jumped 2.49 percent to finish at 75.57 points, while the HNXFF-Index added 2.59 percent to end at 76.31 points.

Tracking the performance of the capital city's top stocks, the HNX30-Index rose by 5.65 points, or as much as 3.88 percent, to finish at 151.27 points.

With 79.5 million shares traded, the trading value reached 679 billion VND, or 32.3 million USD.

For the first time in the last 20 trading sessions, foreign investors were net sellers on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on May 21, with a net value of 27.39 billion VND or 1.3 million USD. However, they purchased a net value of 22.09 billion VND of shares on the Hanoi Exchange.-VNA