On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market benchmark VN-Index extended rallies to end the trading day at 1,280.51 points, a gain of 1.12 points, or 0.09 per cent.

VPBank logo outside of its building. The bank's shares jumped 1.44 per cent on Wednesday, cushioning persistent selling pressure. - Photo courtesy of VPBank

There were more stocks increasing in the afternoon session on the southern bourse, helping the market's breadth return to positive territory. However, liquidity was lower than the previous session, with matching value on HoSE down 4.34 per cent to over VND11.68 trillion (US$497.9 million).

The VN30-Index, tracking 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on HoSE, also inched up 3.3 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 1,301.44 points. Seventeen stocks in the VN30 basket rose, while 11 stocks declined. And two stocks ended unchanged.

The benchmark's rally was driven by gains in pillar stocks, mostly in attractive sectors including real estate and banking industries.

Leading the uptrend was Vinhomes (VHM)'s shares with an increase of 1.84 per cent. Other ticker symbols influencing the the market's bullish sentiment were VPBank (VPB), Becamex (BCM), Masan Group (MSN), Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), and BIDV (BID), up in a range of 0.5-1.44 per cent.

The market also received support from strong performance of seafood stocks, such as Vinh Hoan Corporation (VHC) up 3.32 per cent, Navico (ANV) up 5.21 per cent, and I.D.I International Development & Investment Corporation (IDI) even registered the biggest daily gain of 7 per cent.

However, persistent selling force limited the rallies, with many large-cap stocks facing big losses. Of which, Vietcombank (VCB) lost the most as investors took profit after it dominated the market's upside in the previous session. The bank's shares were down 2.33 per cent. PV Gas (GAS) also plunged more than 1.5 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index finished lower, down 1.94 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 291.92 points. The matching value on the northern bourse was over VND1.6 trillion, equal to the matching volume of 66.2 million shares.

Foreign investors were net sellers on both main exchanges on Wednesday, with a net value of VND202.73 billion. Specifically, they net sold nearly VND182.3 billion on HoSE, and VND20.44 billion on HNX.