A building of BIDV in Hà Nội. Shares of the lender soared 3.2 per cent on Friday, leading the market's uptrend. — Photo courtesy of the bank

HÀ NỘI — Shares rebounded slightly on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange but continued trading under the reference line on Hà Nội’s bourse as investors remained reluctant to take risks.

In HCM City, the VN-Index ended the week up 0.26 per cent to close at 1,124.44 points with the strong support of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), which climbed 3 per cent and topped the list of the ten stocks lifting the VN-Index most.

Masan (MSN) ranked second with a growth of 4 per cent, followed by Mobile World Investment (MWG) which rose by 4.3 per cent.

The VN30 which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange also increased by 0.3 per cent, but the trend was mixed with the number of gainers equalling the number of losers by 13-13, while four closed flat.

The trading focused on mid- and small-cap shares which went in the negative direction.

Securities stocks had another negative session, with 19 out of 25 listed brokerage houses decreasing, with Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities (SHS) and VINDirect Securities (VND) leading the group.

Steel stocks were subdued in the afternoon with only Hòa Phát Group (HPG) maintaining the green colour while Hoa Sen Group (HSG) dropped 1.6 per cent and Vietnam-Germany Steel (VGS) lost 1.7 per cent.

Retail groups performed well in Friday's session with an average growth of 2.8 per cent. Besides MWG, Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ) and City Auto Corp (CTF) also increased slightly.

Liquidity declined after a high jump on Thursday. More than 819 million shares worth VNĐ17.7 trillion (US$737.5 million) were traded in HCM City's market, down by more than 35 per cent in both volume and value compared to the previous session’s levels.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index gave up another 0.28 per cent to close at 231.20 per cent. It lost 0.8 per cent on Thursday.

Liquidity also dropped significantly with over 106 million shares worth VNĐ2.1 trillion changing hands, down more than 40 per cent in both volume and value compared to Thursday’s levels.

According to Viet Dragon Securities, the market showed volatility as the VN-Index returned to the November high of around the 1,130-point area, but it is still tending to stabilise the results and maintain the current pace of recovery.

“The market is still likely to head to the 1,130-1,150 zone to explore supply and demand and to check signals,” said Phương Nguyễn in a daily note.

“However, it is still important to note that this area will potentially have a lot of supply pressure and may have a negative impact on the overall market. Therefore, investors should continue to monitor and evaluate the supply pressure at the resistance area in the coming period,” she added.