VN-Index records strong gain on improved liquidity

Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index surged 21.6 points, or 2.03%, to over 1,088 on Tuesday, with trading value up 50% from the previous session.

The index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), marked its fifth consecutive gaining session, with nearly 674 million shares changing hands for over VND11.75 trillion ($501.45 million). The major bourse saw up to 352 gainers and 69 losers.

The VN30 index, which features the 30 largest-cap stocks, climbed over 28 points, or 2.6%, to 1,103.7, with 29 blue chips gaining. Of these, HPG of steel gaint Hoa Phat showed the most positive performance with more than 2.5 million shares waiting for sellers.

SSI of Saigon Securities and MBB of MBBank expanded 5%; VRE of Vincom Retail, TPB of TPBank and STB of Sacombank, 4%; GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group, TCB of Techcombank and VJC of Vietjet Air, over 3%.

SAB of brewer Sabeco was the only loser in the VN30 basket.

The steel stocks became the focus of attention as almost all hit their ceiling prices, including HPG, HSG of Hoa Sen, and NKG of Nam Kim.

Many other groups experienced strong gains, including banking, securities, construction, real estate and construction materials.

Foreign investors continued to be net buyers to the tune of nearly VND800 billion ($34.14 million) on the HoSE. They mainly purchased HPG, STB and SSI.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi bourse gained 4.27 points to 215.15, while the UpCOM-Index on the unlisted public company market expanded 0.75 points to 72.97.