The benchmark index showed signs of its recent growth momentum slowing down this session, continuously fluctuating above and below the 1,000-point mark. However, buying pressure on the market’s blue chips in the final hour of trading helped the index post its s eight consecutive gaining session.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw a fairly balanced session with 203 stocks gaining and 216 losing.

Results this session had contradicted predictions of many securities firms including Yuanta Vietnam Securities, which said that after long periods of recovery, there was little room left for the VN-Index to close above 1,000 points, and that it would correct itself towards 980 points in the near future.

Total trading volume remained at its highest levels at VND10.3 trillion ($445.85 million), with cash flow split 50/50 between the VN30 basket of blue chips and those outside it.

The VN30-Index for this basket gained 0.37 percent, with 19 tickers rising and seven falling.

The best performers this session were state-owned banks, with CTG of VietinBank surging 3.2 percent, BID of BIDV gaining 3.1 percent, VCB of Vietcombank adding 0.5 percent, and MBB of mid-sized Military Bank up 0.3 percent.

Private banks also did relatively well, with VPB of VPBank, up 1.9 percent, STB of Sacombank up 1 percent and HDB of HDBank up 0.4 percent, while EIB of Eximbank and TCB of Techcombank kept their opening prices.

In the oil and gas sector, PLX of gasoline distributor Petrolimex added 2 percent, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, 0.7 percent, and POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power, 0.2 percent.

VJC of budget carrier VietJet Air, a stock connected to the performance of this sector, rose 0.9 percent.

Other major gainers this session included TCH of truck dealer Hoang Huy Group, up 2.5 percent, MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, up 1.7 percent, SAB of major brewer Sabeco, up 1.5 percent, and KDH of real estate developer Khang Dien House, up 1.2 percent.

In the opposite direction, SBT of agricultural exporter TTC-Sugar topped losses with 3 percent, followed by HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group with 1.4 percent.

VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail and VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes shed 1.2 percent and 1 percent respectively, while VIC of their parent private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s largest cap, gained 0.5 percent.

The HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-caps, gained 0.21 percent, but the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market dropped 0.15 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of over VND455 billion on all three bourses. The most net sold stocks were HDB of HDBank and HPG of Hoa Phat Group.