Transactions surged in the February 24 afternoon's trading session, and benchmark indices posted strong gains.

The indices rose after a local newspaper reported that the regulation on increasing foreign stakes at listed companies will be passed this week.

On the Ho Chi Minh City Exchange, the VN-Index advanced 1.05 percent to close at 576.58 points. About 119 million shares, with a trading value of almost 1.97 billion VND (93.8 million USD), were traded.

The upward trend was steady in the afternoon's trading session, as investors were eager to buy stocks.

The buying power was strong despite the record high trading volumes and values last week, which signaled that the market may face losses in the next few trading sessions.

According to FPT Securities, information about the proposed 100 trillion VND (4.76 billion USD) support package for the property market and the possibility of the regulation of increasing foreign stakes from the current 49 percent to 60 percent being approved this week had powered the market yesterday, with gains at the end of the session, despite some losses in the morning trading session.

On the southern bourse, 174 codes added value, while 68 codes lost.

Becamex IJC (IJC) was among the most active stocks, rising 6.9 percent to its ceiling price of 14,000 VND (0.67 USD) per share, due to buying by foreign investors.

Hoa Sen Group (HSG) also jumped by 6.3 percent to its ceiling price of 52,500 VND (2.5 USD) per share.

As most of the blue chips posted gains, the VN30-Index rose 1.43 percent to close at 648.49 points. Among the bourse's 30 largest stocks by capitalisation and liquidity, only two codes lost value.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) led the southern bourse by liquidity, as 5.96 million of its shares were traded.

The market trend was similar on the Hanoi Exchange as it was in HCM City. The HNX-Index closed the day at the highest level of 80.17 points, a rise of 0.83 percent, while the HNXFF-Index, tracking stocks with a minimum free-float rate of 5 percent, ended 0.66 per cent higher at 79.17 points.

The trading volume and value, however, were much lower than the previous trading sessions at 72.3 million and 708 billion VND (33.7 million USD), respectively.

With 14 million shares traded, PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PVX) was the most active on the northern bourse.

According to the Vietnam Investment Securities, the market will experience strong fluctuations in the next two weeks as investors will be cautious, with those holding cash having the upper hand, while information supporting the market remains controversial.-VNA