Foreign investors net sell for 5th straight session

The index continued sideways due to the lack of supporting news and closed one point higher. This was its fourth session in the 1,470 range.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose 4 percent to VND26.97 trillion ($1.17 billion).

Foreign investors were net sellers for the fifth straight session to the tune of VND157 billion.

Their top selling stocks were VPB of private lender VPBank and CEO of real estate developer CEO Group.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw nine tickers gain, led by POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation with a 6.8 percent rise to a new peak.

In the last two weeks, the ticker has gained nearly 22 percent.

PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development rose 3.9 percent, while GAS of state-owned Petrovietnam Gas gained 0.9 percent.

Two banking stocks followed: STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank rose 0.9 percent and CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank, 0.8 percent.

Eighteen blue chip tickers ended in the red, with VPB falling 2.7 percent to the lowest in nearly four months.

PNJ of Phu Nhuan Jewelry lost 2.4 percent in its third session in the red.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, gained 0.73 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 0.01 percent.