Liquidity soared at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, with trade value rising to VND10.53 trillion ($454.61 million), the highest in several years.

On the bourse, 243 stocks gained and 188 lost, with 19 hitting their ceiling prices, the highest they can go in a trading session.

The VN30-Index for the HoSE’s 30 biggest caps soared 0.96 percent, accounting for over 55 percent of trading volume. The basket saw 17 tickers gain and 10 lose.

HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group topped gains with 5 percent, followed by PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, up 4.2 percent, and REE of appliances maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering, with 3.5 percent.

STB of private Sacombank and TCB of private Techcombank were the only two tickers in the banking sector to post gains, up 3.2 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Other major gainers included SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., with 2.7 percent, MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, 2.2 percent, and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, with 2.1 percent.

Most stocks in the real estate sector closed positively. TCH of Hoang Huy Group and VHM of Vinhomes both climbed 2.7 percent, KDH of Khang Dien House added 0.6 percent, NVL of Novaland, up 0.2 percent and ROS of FLC Faros, 0.5 percent.

State-owned banking stocks were the worst performers this session. Of Vietnam’s three biggest lenders by assets, VCB of Vietcombank dropped 1 percent, CTG of VietinBank, 0.9 percent, BID of BIDV, 0.2 percent, MBB of mid-sized Military Bank, 0.5 percent.

In the private sector, EIB of Eximbank shed 0.6 percnt and HDB of HDBank, 0.2 percent, while VPB of VPBank kept its opening price.

Oil and gas stocks did not fare well this session, with GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas dropping 0.4 percent and PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex down 0.2 percent. However, POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power went up 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-caps, closed up 0.66 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market added 0.39 percent.

After seven consecutive week of net sells, foreign investors were net buyers of Vietnamese stocks for the fourth straight session to the tune of VND135 billion on all three bourses. The most net bought stocks were VHM of Vinhomes and HPG of Hoa Phat Group.