VN-Index inches up on banking stocks

The index started to rise in the last hour of trading and closed 2.87 points higher. Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, climbed by 38 percent to over VND30 trillion ($1.3 billion), its seven-session high.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 20 tickers in the green, led by VPB of HCMC-based lender VPBank with a 4.3 percent gain to its near all-time high.

The ticker has risen 21 percent from a fall in January.

Nine other banking stocks, including two biggest lenders BIDV and Vietcombank, also increased by between 0.5 and 2.1 percent.

FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation hit a new all-time high with a 3.7 percent rise, and HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat rose 2.5 percent.

Other gainers included MWG of biggest electronics retailer Mobile World, up 2,3 percent, and BVH of leading insurance company Baoviet, up 2.2 percent.

Nine blue chips fell, including those of five real estate developers, after the recent arrest of Do Anh Dung, chairman of property developer Tan Hoang Minh, over bond issuance fraud.

VIC of biggest conglomerate Vingroup dropped by 2.2 percent, and KDH of housing developer Khang Dien lost 1.9 percent.

Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND109 billion, with focus on STB of Sacombank and DXG of property developer Dat Xanh Group.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 2.03 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market dropped 0.73 percent.