Two workers inspect machinery at a Vicostone factory. VCS was one of the stocks behind the market rally yesterday. Photo phenikaa.com

HÀ NỘI — Markets were riding high yesterday on the back of bullish construction materials and real estate stocks.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE), the VN-Index lingered high above the reference line in the afternoon and ballooned at around 2:15pm on strong buying force. The index closed the session at 1,122.46 points, up 6.44 points (0.58 per cent) compared to the previous session.

The number of decliners was dwarfed by advancers by 131 to 197. None hit floor prices, whereas 27 sat at the other end. The exchange was busy with over VNĐ15.3 trillion (US$650 million) worth of shares being traded.

"Investors are optimistic with an expectation that FED would leave rates untouched in its upcoming meeting," said an analyst.

The VN30-Index echoed the VN-Index pattern. It gained 5.76 points (up 0.52 per cent) to end at 1,115.39 points. In the basket, 16 stocks rose, four stayed unchanged, and 10 fell.

Vietcombank (VCB) led the market rally yesterday with a gain of 1.49 per cent. Other stocks lifting indices included Vinhomes (VHM), BIDV (BID), Vingroup (VIC), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), and No Va Land (NVL).

By sector, construction materials posted gains yesterday as investors put their bets on bullish construction firms. In the sector, Hoa Phat Group (HPG) rose by 1.96 per cent, followed by Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Vicostone (VCS). 

Real estate was the next sector behind the market pickup as it saw lots of green on the screen. Major gainers included the trio stocks of the Vin family - Vinhomes (VHM), Vincom (VRE), Vingroup (VIC) - which climbed by 2.35 per cent, 1.5 per cent, and 1.31 per cent, respectively. 

On the downside, machinery was the sector weighing on the market yesterday as it lost 1.03 per cent. In the sector, Thibidi (THI) and Nagakawa (NAG) closed lower with drops of 4.62 per cent and 3.93 per cent, in that order.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) followed the bullish trend with a rise of 0.88 points (0.38 per cent) to end at 230.25 points.

Foreign investors poured money into the markets as they net-bought a total of around VNĐ247 billion worth of shares on the two exchanges. Of which, they net bought VNĐ177 billion on HoSE and VNĐ70 billion on HNX.