Financial stocks lift market hinh anh 1Shares closed yesterday’s trade on a positive note on the two national stock exchanges as the banking, securities and steel sectors continued to support the market (Photo: vneconomy.vn)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Shares closed on October 10 on a positive note on the two national stock exchanges as the banking, securities and steel sectors continued to support the market.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange edged up 0.14 percent to close at 808.96 points. Vietnam’s key stock index increased just 0.4 percent last week.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also picked up 0.71 percent to end at 108.75 points, expanding last week’s gain of 0.3 percent.

The market has continued its uptrend on the two exchanges but moved sideways with alternate ups and downs in recent weeks.

Financial and steel stocks remained buoyant and the main supporter for the market, while construction and building materials, oil and gas and healthcare were the main factors on the downside.

“The market fluctuation with the differentiation of stocks and sectors showed that the general investment sentiment is mixed ahead of third quarter business results,” analysts at BIDV Securities Co wrote in a note.

[Derivatives market vibrant in September]

The banking sector showed positive results. All 10 listed banks gained value on the two exchanges, of which the Big Four (including four largest banks by market value and total assets) – Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), BIDV (BID) and Military Bank (MBB) – perked up by less than 1 percent.

In addition, good prospects for the steel sector also helped leading companies such as Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and POM Steel Corp (POM) rally. HPG and POM increased by over 1 percent while HSG inched up 0.2 percent.

Big securities companies, including Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), HCM Securities (HCM), VNDirect Securities (VND), MB Securities (MBS) and Sai Gon-Hanoi Securities Co rose between 0.6-5 percent.

On the defensive side, the biggest stocks that weighed on the market included VinGroup (VIC), down 1.1 percent; Petrolimex (PLX), down 0.8 percent; PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), down 1.1 percent; and PV Gas (GAS), down 0.4 percent.

According to Bao Viet Securities Co, sideways movement may still be seen in coming sessions but with the upcoming third-quarter earnings results of some listed companies, the market is unlikely to tumble in the short term.

Liquidity was positive with a total of over 226 million shares worth a combined 4.4 trillion VND (194 million USD) being traded in the two markets, up 32.2 percent in volume and 42 percent in value compared to last week’s daily trading.-VNA
VNA