Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index witnessed the third consecutive green session with a minor increase to close at 1,241.64 points on Thursday.
VN-Index opened the session down about 30 points to nearly 1,210 amid the red coverage of Asian markets. The market then observed a gradual rebound owing to several blue chips’ momentum.
The tug-of-war between supply and demand remained in the afternoon, causing the index to fluctuate around its reference milestone and end the session with a slight increase.
Eighteen stocks in the VN30 basket, which tracks the price of leading stocks in terms of market cap and liquidity on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), were in the red.
This was led by TPB (Tien Phong Bank) with a margin of 3.3%, followed by PDR, PLX, CTG, and VNM. Among eight gainers, MSN (Masan Group) was notable for reaching the ceiling price.
VN30-Index closed the session at 1,283.55, down 2.86 points. Liquidity reached VND5,207 billion ($225 million), accounting for 40.6% of HoSE liquidity.
Small and medium stocks were rattled and slightly adjusted with VNSmallCap down 0.39% and VNMidcap up 0.41%.
VN-Index closed Thursday at 1,241.64, slightly up 0.88 points, with 151 gaining (8 stocks hit the price ceiling) and 292 losing.
HNX-Index fell by 1.82 points (0.59%) to 308.02, while UpCoM-Index dropped by 0.15 points (0.16%) to 94.58.
On the three exchanges, 322 stocks were gainers (21 stocks hit the price ceiling) and 588 losers, with total transaction value at VND15,387 billion ($665 million), down 6% from Wednesday.
Many stocks like banking, real estate, securities, and construction experienced a split with intertwined bullish and bearish trends. Meanwhile, oil and gas stocks stood out with PVD jumping to the price ceiling, followed by PVC, PVB, PVS, and BSR climbing by more than 5%.
The red coverage expanded to other sectors like steel, coal, and fishery, restraining the index's progress.
Foreign investors were back to net selling of VND96 billion ($4.15 million) on the HoSE, focusing on HPG (Hoa Phat Group), SSI (SSI Securities), and VIC (Vingroup).
In the derivatives market, VN30F2205 increased by 2 points, while the remaining futures contracts were in the red.