Shares up on cash flow into mid- and small-cap stocks

Shrimp processed at Cuu Long Fish JSC (ACL) in Tra Vinh Province's Tra Vinh City. ACL rose 2.9 per cent on Friday. - VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange gained 1.55 per cent to end at 868.56 points.

It had gained 0.1 per cent to end Thursday at 855.27 points.

More than 440 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VND6.2 trillion (US$266.2 million).

Market breadth on HoSE was positive with 298 gainers and 103 decliners.

The blue-chip share tracker VN30-Index climbed 1.41 per cent to 808.28 points.

Twenty-two of the 30 largest stocks by market valuation and trading liquidity increased while four decreased.

In the VN30 basket, notable gainers were Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), Novaland (NVL), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Sabeco (SAB), all increasing by more than 1 per cent.

The aquaculture group outperformed with Sao Ta Foods Joint Stock Company (FMC) increasing by 5.9 per cent, Cuu Long Fish Joint Stock Company (ACL) rising by 2.9 per cent and Vinh Hoan Corporation (VHC) climbing by 1.9 per cent.

A number of mid-cap and small-cap stocks received strong cash flow on Friday. Property developer LDG Investment JSC (LDG), Quang Binh Import & Export JSC (QBS), Tien Bo Group JSC and Digiworld Corporation (DGW) hit the daily limit rise of 7 per cent.

On a sector basis, 23 out of 25 sectors on the stock market posted gains, including wholesale, insurance, real estate, information and technology, banking, rubber production, seafood production and logistics, securities, retail, healthcare, energy, agriculture and construction.

"The market is forecast to fluctuate with a wide divergence among stock sectors next week, between 840-845 and 883-888 points," said Bao Viet Securities Company.

"The index may possibly face correction pressure during early sessions of the week before recovering toward resistance of 883-888 points," the company said.

According to Thanh Cong Securities Co, investors should focus on risk management, maintaining a reasonable proportion of stocks in their portfolios.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was up 2.33 per cent to close Friday at 115.36 points.

It had lost 0.75 per cent to close Thursday at 112.41 points.

More than 52.4 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth nearly VND513.5 billion.

Foreign investors net sold VND48.36 billion on HOSE. They were net sellers on the HNX with a value of VND420 million.