VN-Index ends 3rd session in the green

The index stayed in the green most of the day and closed nearly eight points higher. It has increased by nearly 34 points in the last three sessions.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, hit VND22.98 trillion ($1.02 billion), its fourth session in a row in the VND22 trillion range.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 16 tickers in the green, led by seven banking stocks.

MBB of lender MB surged 5.3 percent to a six-month high with trading volume reaching 325 percent of the 10-session average.

STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank rose 2.4 percent after hitting a new peak last week.

VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank surged to a six-month high with a 2.4 percent gain.

Other gainers included TCB of the largest private lender Techcombank, up 1.9 percent, ACB of Asia Commercial Bank, up 1.5 percent and BID of state-owned lender BIDV, up 1.4 percent.

Fourteen blue chip tickers closed in the red, with SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation dropping 2.5 percent, continuing its downward trend which began early December.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the third straight session to the tune of VND1.1 billion with focus on KBC of industrial real estate developer Kinh Bac City and HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 1.47 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market gained 0.01 percent.