Viet Nam’s benchmark VN Index beat the all-time high of 1,170 points on Thursday morning and was kept positive by good performance of energy and real-estate stocks.
The VN Index on HCM Stock Exchange advanced 0.54 per cent to close at a record high of 1,175.62 points.
The benchmark index had gained a total of 4.1 per cent in the previous eight consecutive trading sessions.
The minor HNX Index on Ha Noi Stock Exchange fell for the second day, dropping 0.57 per cent to end at 134.19 points.
The northern bourse index had declined by 0.24 per cent on Wednesday.
Nearly 166 million shares, worth VND4.43 trillion (US$197 million), were traded on the two local exchanges.
Despite the progress of the benchmark index, the market trading condition was negative, with 182 gaining stocks against 227 decliners on the two local exchanges.
Of the 20 sectors on the stock market, energy and real-estate industries remained positive on increased oil prices and first-quarter earnings prospects.
Brent crude oil narrowed its growth to 0.03 per cent on Thursday morning and traded at $69.49 per barrel. It had jumped 5.2 per cent in the past two days.
This improvement in oil prices helped Vietnamese energy stocks to progress, including PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Mud Drilling (PVC) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD).
Among the gainers in the real-estate sector were FLC Group (FLC), Vingroup (VIC), Novaland (NVL), Dream House Investment Corp (DRH) and HCM City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII).
On the negative side, rubber producers and healthcare service providers were among those that weighed on the stock market.
The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market lost 0.32 per cent to 60.44 points, going down further from its previous three-day decline of 1.9 per cent.
The afternoon trading sessions start at 1pm.
Source: VNA