Fervent trading in the afternoon pushed up stock indices and liquidity on both markets on July 7, driven by investor optimism ahead of first-half corporate earnings reports.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index stayed above a three-month high, gaining another 0.23 percent to close July 7 session at 590.69 points.

The market condition was positive as advancers outnumbered decliners by 126-94 and 80 closed flat.

Blue chips continued to rally, giving a boost to the VN30, which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity and rose 0.91 percent to end at 636.75 points.

Real estate giant Vin-Group (VIC) closed at the ceiling price of 71,000 VND a share (3.36 USD) following reports the group would spend nearly 2 trillion VND (94.8 million USD) to pay cash dividends at 21.5 percent.

Other large-caps, including Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), FPT Corp (FPT) and Phu My Fertiliser (DMP), also increased by 1-2 percent.

Market value remained high at more than 2.1 trillion VND (99.5 million USD) while the volume of trades reached nearly 128 million.

FLC Group (FLC) was again the most active stock on trades of almost 14 million shares, climbing 3.3 percent to close at 12,600 VND.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index unexpectedly lost value in the last few minutes, sliding 0.65 percent to close at 78.92 points, although gainers outnumbered losers by 97-89. The other 174 closed unmoved.

Trading was more sluggish as market volume declined 20 percent from the previous session, totalling 55 million shares worth 675 billion VND (32 million USD).

Sai Gon Thuong Tin Real Estate Co (SCR) continued to be the most heavily-traded stock here with 5.2 million shares, closing flat at 9,200 VND a share.

Foreign investors extended their buys on both exchanges on July 7, picking up shares worth a combined 62 billion VND (2.9 million USD).-VNA