Investors on the International Royal Securities Company’s exchange floor. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese shares on March 11 extended gains on both local exchanges, led by the dairy corporation Vinamilk after it announced a plan to raise foreign ownership in the company.
The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange and the HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange inched up 0.2 percent each to finish at 577.26 points and 80.06 points.
The VN Index has risen 1 percent in the last two days while the HNX Index has advanced 1.2 percent in the last three trading sessions.
Vinamilk (VNM) jumped 3.8 percent on March 11 to lift the local exchanges after the company announced it may halt the operations of seven of its business activities in order to raise foreign ownership.
Additionally, natural rubber producers helped lift the markets as rubber price on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange gained 1.5 percent to trade at 171.4 JPY (1.53 USD) per kilogramme.
Among those stocks, Dong Phu Rubber JSC (DPR) added 0.3 percent, Tay Ninh Rubber JSC (TRC) rose 1.2 percent, Quang Nam Rubber Investment JSC (VHG) was up 1.8 percent, and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agricultural JSC (HNG) jumped 3.5 percent.
Other stocks that also helped boost the markets included property developer Hoàng Quân Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate Corporation (HQC), which jumped 3.2 percent, and steel company Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and HCM City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII), which advanced 1.7 percent each.
On the opposite side, large-cap energy stocks weighed on the markets due to volatile oil prices. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on March 11 rebounded 2.7 percent to trade at 38.87 USD a barrel from March 10’s decline.
Among local energy stocks, PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (GAS) fell 0.5 percent, and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) dropped 1.5 percent.
Both local markets traded more than 202 million shares worth 3.1 trillion VND (136.7 million USD), a slight increase from the previous day’s trading value.-VNA
