VN-Index inches up after sharp fall, oil stocks rally

The VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), rose 3.55 points, or 0.29%, to 1,227.36 on Friday after a plunge of nearly 15 points in the previous session.

The major bourse saw 253 gainers and 247 losers, with over 917 million shares changing hands for VND21.7 trillion ($894.2 million), a sharp fall from VND27 trillion ($1.11 billion) on Thursday. The cash flow mainly ran into the real estate, banking and financial service tickers.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the performance of 30 largest cap stocks, gained 4.75 points to 1,238.81.

With an increase of 2.2%, STB of Sacombank was the largest contributor to the VN-Index, while VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup had the most negative impact, losing 3.4% with a trading value of VND1.03 trillion ($42.45 million).

The oil and gas group was the best performer following the news that West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price had exceeded $90 per barrel - the highest level since the beginning of the year. Many codes increased over 3% such as PVS of Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation, GAS of PV Gas, PVC of PetrovietNam Chemical And Services Joint Stock Corporation, OIL of PV Oil, PSH of Nam Song Hau Trading Investing Petroleum JSC and PVB of Petroviet Nam Coating JSC. Notably, on the HoSE, GAS was the market leader, rising more 3.4%.

Meanwhile, many other groups saw a strong divergence, including banking, securities, real estate, manufacturing, and retail.

Foreign investors turned net buyers on the HoSE to the tune of about VND120 billion ($4.95 million) after net selling nearly VND200 billion ($8.25 million) in the previous session. They mainly net purchased VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, VIX of VIX Securities, and PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corp.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where mid and small caps list, inched down 0.36% to 252.76 points, while the UPCoM-Index on the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 0.12% to 93.76.