VN-Index wraps up year 12% higher

The index closed one point higher after gaining 6.94 points in the previous session.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange increased by 2% to VND15.77 trillion ($649.91 million).

VN-Index has been struggling to return to previous historic peaks of over 1,500 points it secured in early 2022.

It slowly rose to the highest level in September at 1,245 points but fell quickly and established a bottom of 1,028 points in the end of October.

The benchmark then recovered but mostly went flat in the remaining months.

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 13 tickers gained Friday.

HDB of HDBank led with a 4.9% surge, followed by GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group, up 4.4%.

VPB of private lender VPBank closed 2.1% higher and BID of state-owned lender BIDV went up 1.6%.

Ten blue chips fell. VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank dropped 3% and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk declined by 1.3%.

Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND339 billion, mainly selling VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk and GMD of logistics company Gemadept Corp.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.13%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went up 0.02%.