An investor looks at stock prices on a screen at a brokerage in
Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran 

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.25 percent to 1,331.47 points Tuesday, its third gaining session in a row with improved trading value. 

The index traded around 1,330 points and closed three points higher. It has gained a total 21 points this month, or 1.6 percent.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose 7 percent to VND22.9 trillion ($1 billion), the highest in the past five sessions.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 14 tickers gaining, led by BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings with 3.6 percent.

GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group rose 3 percent, its fifth gaining session in a row, returning to its previous peak established two weeks ago.

PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development went up 2.8 percent, while GAS of state-owned Petrovietnam Gas gained 2.2 percent.

Thirteen blue chip tickers ended in the red, led by seven banks, including HDB of HDBank, down 2.8 percent, and STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank, down 2 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the fifth straight session with strongest pressure on MSN of conglomerate Masan Group and VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, gained 0.44 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 0.59 percent.