The market benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) ended the week at 1,456.51 points, up 8.17 points, or 0.56 percent.
The market's liquidity was positive with 303 stocks rising, while 148 slid. However, the liquidity was slightly lower than Thursday. Of which, investors poured over VND26.1 trillion (US$1.15 billion), equivalent to a trading volume of 874.07 million shares.
The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index rose 3.55 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1.531.76 points. It reversed the downtrend after falling 0.13 percent in the morning trade. Seventeen in the VN30 basket climbed, while 11 decreased and two stayed flat.
The benchmark was mainly driven by oil and gas stocks with PetroVietnam Gas (PVGas, GAS) rising the most, up 4.53 percent.
Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB), Vinamilk (VNM), Petrolimex (PLX), Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) and Novaland (NVL) joined the top supporting group. These stocks jumped 0.9-3.28 percent, according to data compiled by vietstock.vn.
Fertilizer stocks also attracted cash flow in the early afternoon session, supporting the market's bullish sentiment. PetroVietnam Fertilizer & Chemicals Corporation (DPM) and PetroViet Nam Ca Mau Fertilizer JSC (DCM) even hit the biggest intraday gain of 7 percent.
Meanwhile, the financial sector was still stuck in the downtrend as selling force remained. Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID) and Techcombank (TCB) were among the biggest losers. Losses in Vinhomes and Vincom Retail (VRE) also weighed on the market.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index inched up 5.22 points, or 1.24 percent, to 427.64 points.
During the trading session, more than 147.1 million shares were traded on HNX, worth nearly VND3.5 trillion.
On the other hand, foreign investors were net buyers on both main exchanges yesterday, with a total value of VND233.55 billion. Of which, they net bought a value of VND226.51 billion on the southern market and a value of VND7.04 billion on HNX.
In the morning trade, they net sold a value of VND54.63 billion on HoSE.
