Despite an overall gain, 155 stocks gained and 182 stocks lost on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based. Order-matched transactions were VND2.42 trillion ($105 million), far below the average liquidity of around VND3 trillion ($130 million) so far this month.

The VN30-Index for Vietnam’s 30 biggest market cap companies rose 0.45 percent, with 17 stocks closing in green and 11 in red, in which 9 stocks closed above one percent in this basket.

EIB of private lender Eximbank led gains with 5.3 percent, followed by VRE of Vincom Retail, the retail arm of Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate Vingroup, up 3.3 percent, and REE of appliances maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp, which rose 2.1 percent.

For Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned banks, CTG of VietinBank and VCB of Vietcombank rose 1.9 and 1.4 percent respectively, while BID of BIDV fell 0.2 percent.

For stocks of mid-sized lenders, TCB of Techcombank, VPB of VPBank, and MBB of state-owned Military Bank, gained, while STB of private lender Sacombank and HDB of HDBank closed in red.  

VIC shares of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s highest market cap stock, fell 0.2 percent this session. The stock had registered no positive sessions in the last two weeks.

HoSE’s biggest losing stock this session were ROS shares of real estate developer FLC Faros, which fell 6.8 percent, the third consecutive session the stock had hit its floor price.

It was followed by CTD of construction giant Coteccons, which shed 1.9 percent, and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, which dropped 1.4 percent.

Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND58 billion ($2.51 million) on HoSE, with selling pressure mostly on VIC of Vingroup and VNM of Vinamilk.

Meanwhile, HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and mid-cap stocks, fell 0.43 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for Unlisted Public Companies gained 0.45 percent.