An investor looks at stock prices on a smartphone at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.54% to 1,249.11 points Friday while Asian shares edged higher.
The index closed 6.75 points higher after gaining 6.18 points in the previous session.
Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 23% to VND10.278 trillion (US$405.7 million).
The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 20 tickers gained.
HDB of HDBank saw the biggest rise of 3.7%, followd by TCB of private lender Techcombank with a 2.3% gain and BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings, up 2.0%.
Seven blue chips fell. SAB of brewer Sabeco dropped 1.1%, POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation closed 0.8% lower, and MSN of conglomerate Masan Group went down 0.6%.
Foreign investors were net seller to the tune of VND476 billion, mainly selling HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group and FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation.
The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.74%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went up 0.71%.
Globally, Asian stocks edged up on Friday, drawing support from unexpectedly strong growth in China’s economy at the end of last year, although gains were limited by caution ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president next week, Reuters reported.
Japanese equities struggled though, with the Nikkei on course for a third straight losing week, after the yen popped to a one-month high amid rising bets for an imminent Bank of Japan rate hike.
Japan’s Nikkei sagged 0.31%, paring earlier losses of more than 1%. The yen had earlier climbed to the highest since Dec. 19 at 154.98 per dollar then reversed course to last trade about 0.4% lower at 155.69.
MSCI’s world index edged down 0.05%. Its broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares lost 0.17%.
