Blue chips help VN-Index surge 12 points

The VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), soared 11.85 points, or 1.05%, to 1,138.07 on Friday, marking its strongest gain in a month.

Blue chips were the main support for the VN-Index expansion as their VN30 index gained 9.99 points to 1,129.43, with up to 20 gainers and only seven losers.

VCB of Vietcombank, the largest-cap stock in the market, increased 4.27%, contributing over 5 points to the VN-Index.

The HCMC exchange saw more than 798 million shares traded for VND16.5 trillion ($698 million), down 11% from the previous session.

The green color covered the market with 267 gainers, double the number of losers. The construction group showed the best performance as many leading tickers such as CTD of Coteccons, HBC of Hoa Binh, VCG of Vietnam Construction And Import-Export JSC, and PHC of Phuc Hung Holdings gained more than 3%.

Steel stocks also rallied with HSG of Hoa Sen, NKG of Nam Kim, and POM of Pomina rising over 4%; and HPG of giant Hoa Phat 1.7%.

Most tickers in the banking, securities, real estate and manufacturing sectors gained, while retail and energy codes saw a divergence. Aviation stocks closed in the red, with VJC of low-cost private airline Vietjet và HVN of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines losing 0.53% and 0.76%, respectively.

Foreign investors were net sellers on the HoSE to the tune of more than VND1.35 trillion ($57 million), the highest level since mid-January.

EIB of Eximbank was most net sold by the group with over VND680 billion ($28.7 million). It was followed by VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes and KDC of Kido Corp with VND440 billion ($18.6 million) and VND200 billion ($8.45 million), respectively.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi bourse inched up 0.74 points to 225.82, while the UpCOM-Index on the unlisted public company market lost 0.43 points to 84.66.