On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, on which the VN-Index is based, 156 stocks gained and 154 lost. Liquidity of order-matched transactions plunged to VND2.78 trillion ($120.13 million), making Friday the quietest trading session of the past month.

The VN30-Index, which represents Vietnam’s 30 biggest market cap stocks, rose 0.13 percent this session, with 16 gaining and 9 losing.

On the VN30, four stocks rose at least 2 percent. HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group led gains in blue chips with an increase of 3.2 percent, followed by CTD of construction giant Coteccons, which rose 2.7 percent, and DPM of state-owned Petrovietnam Fertilizer & Chemicals Corporation, up 2.3 percent.

ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros gained 1 percent, followed by CTG of state-owned lending giant Vietinbank which added 1 percent.

In the session, MSN of Masan Group also added 0.8 percent, its first positive trade after the stock plunged 10.4 percent over three consecutive periods following the company’s announcement on Tuesday it had reached a merger deal with Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate, to combine retail units.

Stocks that lost the most this session were GMD of transport and logistics corporation Gemadept, down 2.1 percent, followed by VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk and BID of Vietnam’s biggest state-owned lender BIDV, down 1.3 and 0.9 percent respectively.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the fifth consecutive session to the tune of VND38.76 billion ($1.68 million), with selling pressure mostly on VNM and MSN shares.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and mid-cap stocks, added 0.13 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for Unlisted Public Companies gained 0.11 percent.

Elsewhere, stocks in Asia rose as investors awaited the release of the U.S. government’s monthly nonfarm payroll report, expected to be available late on Friday, U.S. time.

The payroll, which represents the total number of paid workers in the U.S. minus farm and government employees, is used as an economic health indicator of the U.S. labor market and its economy, and influences the U.S. dollar, equities, and gold.

Mainland Chinese stocks rose, with Shanghai Composite adding 0.43 percent and Shenzhen Component rising 0.81 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.07 percent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.23 percent, and South Korea’s Kopsi added 1.02 percent.