In its second straight gaining session, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 165 stocks close in the green and 193 in the red.

Total trading volume fell slightly over the previous session, reaching VND4.3 trillion ($185.46 million), but was still much lower than the VND6.67 trillion ($286.6 million) June average.

The VN30-Index for the market’s 30 largest capped stocks grew 1.19 percent, with 23 blue chips gaining and only two losing.

Topping gains this session was VJC of budget carrier Vietjet, surging 3.9 percent, followed by VIC of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup, up 2.8 percent, and SBT of agricultural firm TTC-Sugar, up 2.7 percent.

The market’s top gainers were a mixed bag this session, with MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group adding 2.3 percent, VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail, 2.2 percent, and HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, 2 percent.

Next were three tickers of private banks, with TCB of Techcombank, EIB of Eximbank and HDB of HDBank rising 1.9 percent, 1.7 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. STB of Sacombank and VPB of VPBank performed less well, both rising 0.4 percent.

Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, BID of BIDV, CTG of VietinBank and VCB of Vietcombank all kept their opening prices this session.

Oil and gas stocks all closed in the green. POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power added 1 percent, PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex 0.9 percent, and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas 0.1 percent.

In the red were two tickers of real estate developers, with NVL of Novaland and ROS of FLC Faros going down 0.8 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.

In the same sector, VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes rose 0.5 percent, while CTD of construction giant Coteccons kept its opening price, marking relatively poorer performances compared to other industry groups on the VN30, although there was no news this session that had a major effect on the whole real estate sector.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.28 percent; and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market inched up 0.09 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of VND26 billion ($1.17 million) on all three bourses, with selling pressure mostly on MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, and Vietcombank’s VCB.