The improved economic data released on June 27 helped shares extend their gains on both national stock exchanges.

The gross domestic product in the first six months of this year grew 5.18 percent over the same period last year, the General Statistics Office said.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange increased for five days straight to end at 578.82 points after adding 2.42 points or as much as 0.42 percent on June 27.

However, FPT Securities said the benchmark index did not reflect the real market situation. It had gained despite the fact that a majority of large cap stocks posted losses and the VN Index, which was tracking the southern bourse's largest stocks by capitalisation and liquidity, lost 0.49 percent to 616.85 points.

The index relied on PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (GAS), a market pillar, which rose 3.7 percent on June 27 although decliners overwhelming advancers by 126-74.

In the VN30 package, 17 codes shed value while five rose and eight closed unchanged.

Trading was sluggish, as both buyers and sellers were cautious over fears of a decline, with the VN-Index, after a five-day winning streak, approaching the strong resistance band of 580 points.

The trading volume and value eased respectively by 38 percent and 40 percent over the previous trading session to log 74 million shares and 1.22 trillion VND (58 million USD).

After an active trading session on June 26 with 22.23 million shares changing hands, FLC Group (FLC) continued to top the bourse by trading volume with 7.47 million shares on June 27, followed by Hoang Quan Corporation (HQC) and Tan Tao Group (ITA).

On the Hanoi Exchange, the HNX-Index closed up 0.3 percent at 77.58 points and the HNXFF-Index 0.31 percent at 78.04 points.

Tracking the top stocks, the HNX30-Index advanced 0.26 percent to end at 156.23 points.

Market liquidity declined over June 26 trading with 35.5 million worth 421.4 billion VND (20 million USD) shares changing hands.

Despite falling market liquidity with local investors cautious, foreign investors continued to inject significant cash into the Vietnam stock market, as they purchased a net 160 billion VND (7.5 million USD) shares, 20.28 percent higher than the previous trading session.-VNA