Steel, securities stock rallies push VN-Index up 7 points

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index gained 6.74 points, or 0.61%, to 1,118.46 on Wednesday thanks to the rallies of steel and securities stocks.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, represented by the index, saw up to 232 gainers and 108 losers. Its liquidity significantly improved with nearly 876 million shares changing hands for over VND 17.5 trillion ($744.36 million), an increase of VND3.9 trillion ($165.89 million) from the previous session.

The VN30 index, which tracks the performance of 30 largest-cap stocks, rose 7.8 points to 1,112.07, with up to 21 tickers gaining and seven losing.

Steel tickers became the focus of attention with HPG of giant Hoa Phat expanding 4.02%, HSG of Hoa Sen Group 3.31%, and NKG of Nam Kim Steel Corp. 4.42%.

HPG hit VND24,600 ($1.05) - the highest level in a year, topping the list of stocks with the most positive impact on the major index. It also took the lead in trading value on the HoSE with nearly VND860 billion ($36.58 million), followed by GEX of Gelex Corp., VND of VNDirect Securities, and SSI of Saigon Securities.

The securities group traded positively as SSI increased 1.17%, VND 0.77%, VCI of Viet Capital Securities 1.89%, HCM of Ho Chi Minh City Securities 4.4%, VIX of VIX Securities 4.98%, FTS of FPT Securities 3.5%, and BSI of BIDV Securities 3.27%. Notably, CTS of VietinBank Securities and AGR of Agribank Securities hit their ceiling prices.

The real estate group was also covered in green. In addition to QCG of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai Corp. hitting its ceiling price, major gainers included KBC of Kinhbac City Development Holding Corp. (1.91%), HDG of Ha Do Group (2.61%), CII of Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC (1.62%), HHV of HHV of Deo Ca Traffic Infrastructure Investment JSC (1.01%), and TCD of Tracodi (2.98 %).

Energy and aviation codes saw a divergence while retail stocks recovered.

Foreign investors turned net buyers on the HoSE after two net-selling sessions to the tune of about VND70 billion ($2.98 million). They mainly net purchased HPG, STB of Sacombank, and SSI.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi bourse gained 3 points to 231.77, while the UpCOM-Index on the unlisted public company market went up 0.63 points to 85.45.