VIETNAM, December 27 -  

A customer at a branch of Tiên Phong Bank (TPB) in Hà Nội. TPB soared 4 per cent Monday. — Photo courtesy of Tiên Phong Bank

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese stocks had a good start on Monday largely led by gains in financial shares and heavy-weight stocks.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market benchmark VN-Index gained 0.80 per cent to end Monday at 1,488.88 points.

The index had lost 0.19 per cent last week.

The market's breadth was positive with 259 gainers and 199 losers.

Liquidity declined compared to the previous session with 752 million shares traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ22 trillion (US$964 million).

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, gained 0.52 per cent to end at 1,514.55 points. Twenty-three out of 30 stocks in the VN30 basket posted gains, while six decreased.

In the VN-30 Group, notable gainers included PV Power (POW), which hit the daily limit gain of 7 per cent, Tiên Phong Bank (TPB) soared 4 per cent, Khang Điền House gained 3.9 per cent, Vingroup (VIC) rose 2.6 per cent and Vietjet (VJC), was up 0.8 per cent.

Banking and securities stocks performed well and attracted huge cash flow with many gainers such as Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), VPBank (VPB), Vietcombank (VCB), Tiên Phong Bank (TPB), SSI Securities Inc (SSI), FPT Securities Joint Stock Company (FTS), Hồ Chí Minh City Securities Corporation (HCM), Việt Capital Incorporation (VCI), SSI Securities Incorporation (SSI), Agribank Securities Corporation (AGR) and APG Securities Joint Stock Company (APG).

“VN-Index finally surpassed the resistance level of 1,480 and closed at 1,488.9 in today's session,” said BIDV Securities Co.

“During the morning session, VN-Index uptrend was pressured by the selling force, causing the index to drop by 17 points. However, buying demand increased and rescued the market, pulling the VN-Index up more than 20 points before it closed nearly 12 points higher compared to the previous session,” it said.

“Market breadth tilted to the positive side. Foreign investors were net buyers on HOSE and net sellers on HNX. In the short run, the 1,490 level is a short-term resistance of the VN-Index. The market may accumulate more in this area before it can bounce back and head to the peak of 1,500 points,” it said.

Twenty out of 25 sector indices on the stock market posted gains, including agriculture, oil and gas, construction, securities, IT, retail, banking, rubber production, logistics, real estate, wholesale and seafood production.

On the other side, losers were insurance, healthcare food and beverage, and construction materials.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index gained 0.85 per cent to end at 449.41 points. — VNS