VN-Index inches up on blue chips

The index stayed in the green for most of the morning before plunging 15 points within the first 30 minutes of the afternoon’s session. But it rallied 30 points since, closing 12 points higher.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose marginally to VND15.36 trillion ($669.12 million). This is the fifth straight session the index closed with trading value under the 20-trillion mark.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 22 tickers in the green, with TPB of private TPBank gaining 6.9 percent after plunging to the lowest in over five months Wednesday.

It was followed by VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes with a 6.7 percent surge, its highest one-day jump since last February.

MSN of conglomerate Masan Group gained 5.2 percent, and SAB of HCMC brewer Sabeco closed 3.6 percent higher.

Other gainers included CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank, up 3.3 percent, and BID of state-owned lender BIDV, up 2.6 percent.

Seven blue chips fell, led by SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities with a 3.1 percent loss.

PLX of Petrolimex dropped 2.2 percent, and KDH of real estate developer Khang Dien closed 0.9 percent lower.

Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND305.89 billion, focusing on NLG of Nam Long Investment Corporation and CTG.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, dropped 0.62 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market lost 0.19 percent.