Although the benchmark index rose, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw just 159 tickers gain while 255 lost. Total transaction volume was VND6.33 trillion ($273.3 million), far higher than the August average to date of VND5 trillion.

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 largest caps gained 0.24 percent, with 14 stocks rising and 16 falling. Blue chips continued to account for less than 50 percent of total trading volume this session, with investors continuing to target mid- and small-caps with strong individual financials, analysts noted.

According to brokerage BIDV securities, HoSE’s liquidity has been improving markedly in the last trading week, suggesting that investors are becoming more optimistic and that the VN-Index may hit 900 points at the end of this week, albeit with a few corrective sessions.

On the VN30, SAB of major brewer Sabeco topped gains with 5.2 percent, followed by CTG of state-owned banking giant VietinBank, and VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, both with 2.4 percent.

VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk followed with 1.4 percent, NVL of real estate developer Novaland with 1.3 percent, and BID of BIDV, Vietnam’s biggest state-owned bank by assets, with 1 percent.

Other major gainers included HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, up 1 percent, MSN of food giant Masan Group, 0.9 percent, and HDB of private lender HDBank, up 0.5 percent.

In the opposite direction, TCH of truck dealer Hoang Huy Group led losses with 2.6 percent, followed by SBT of agricultural firm TTC-Sugar, with 1.7 percent.

Private banks were some of the worst performing stocks this session, with TCB of Techcombank falling 1.4 percent, STB of Sacombank, 1.3 percent, VPB of VPBank and EIB of Eximbank both shedding 1.1 percent.

Other major losing tickers were SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc. and PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, both down 1.3 percent, and ROS of construction firm FLC Faros, down 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-capped stocks, shed 0.8 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market slipped 0.86 percent after 10 consecutive gaining sessions.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of VND301 billion ($13 million) on all three bourses. The top three net sold tickers were VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes and VRE of retail arm Vincom Retail.

Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, had just last Friday published its consolidated financial statement, which showed a 36.6 percent year-on-year plunge in revenues as a result of Covid-19.

VIC shares edged up 0.1 percent, VHM slipped 0.1 percent and VRE shed 0.7 percent. VIC and VHM are the largest and third largest capped stocks on the HoSE.