Market settles higher as sentiment boosts bank stocks

Market settles higher as sentiment boosts bank stocks

HÀ NỘI — Benchmark indices finished higher on Friday as investors' confidence in bank stocks improved. 

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index inched up  七. 五 九 points, or 0. 五 二 per cent, to  一, 四 七 二. 八 九 points. The benchmark had lost over  五 七 points in the first two sessions of the week due to strong sell-offs. 

However, the market's breadth was still negative with  二 三 五 stocks declining, while  二 二 六 stocks increased. Liquidity, meanwhile, improved as more than  八 一 一. 三 million shares were traded on HoSE, worth nearly VNĐ 二 三 trillion (US$ 一 billion). 

The index's uptrend was driven by large-cap stocks, especially bank stocks. The  三0 biggest stocks tracker VN 三0-Index posted a gain of  九. 三 五 points, or 0. 六 三 per cent, to  一, 五0 二. 一 六 points. 

Sixteen stocks in the VN 三0 basket rose, while  一 四 slid. 

Vietcombank (VCB) was the biggest gainer in the last trading session of the week, up  二. 四 一 per cent, leading the rally trend.

Many other bank stocks also witnessed strong performance, supporting the general bullish sentiment. Notably, MBBank (MBB) was up  五. 三 per cent, Techcombank (TCB) up  一. 九 四 per cent, BIDV (BID) up nearly  一. 四 per cent, Vietinbank (CTG) up  一. 三 per cent, and VPBank (VPB) up more than  一 per cent. 

Some realty stocks saw big gains on Friday, including Vinhomes (VHM) up  一.0 二 per cent and Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG) up  七 per cent, the biggest intraday gain.

The gain was limited by losses in some pillar stocks such as Hòa Phát Group (HPG), down nearly  一. 六 per cent, Sabeco (SAB), down  一. 三 三 per cent, and PV Gas (GAS), down  一. 一 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index climbed  六.0 四 points on Friday, or  一. 四 七 per cent, to  四 一 七. 八 四 points. The index lost nearly  五 八 points in the first three sessions of the week.

During the session, investors poured over VNĐ 二. 三 billion into the market, equivalent to a trading volume of nearly  九0. 二 million shares. 

Analysts from MB Securities Company (MBS) said that the market's recovery is likely to continue as more and more listed companies release the fourth-quarter results. 

Meanwhile, foreign investors net sold a huge amount of over VNĐ 一. 一 trillion on HoSE, while net bought a value of VNĐ 二0. 六 四 billion on HNX. — VNS