An overwhelming 231 stocks gained while 95 stocks lost on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the benchmark VN-Index is based.

Order-matched transactions fell slightly to VND2.5 trillion ($107.67 million) from VND2.6 trillion ($111.97 million) last session, but it was still a busier trading day than most sessions in January.

The VN30-Index for Vietnam’s 30 biggest market caps gained 0.28 percent, with 16 stocks gaining and 9 losing. Nearly half of the blue chips in this basket gained more than one percent this session.

BID of BIDV, one of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, led the gains with 2.8 percent, followed by VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, the second biggest market cap stock on the market, with 2.2 percent.

They were followed by FPT of IT services giant FPT, up 1.8 percent, BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet and HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, which both rose 1.7 percent.

ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros and CTD of construction giant Coteccons were also big gainers this session, adding 1.5 percent and 0.8 percent respectively. Both are stocks that had been in a freefall for many consecutive sessions, but have picked up recently.

Before the last four sessions, CTD was caught in a losing streak that lost over 20 percent of its value in a month. The construction giant has reported declining profits over the past five consecutive quarters, citing declining construction demand and competition pressure on profit margins.

For the last 12 of 18 sessions, ROS had been the biggest losing stock on HoSE, hitting its floor price in several consecutive sessions, losing over 50 percent since Christmas.

VIC shares of Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, and VRE of retail subsidiary Vincom Retail both kept their opening prices this session. VIC is currently the biggest market cap stock on HoSE.

The biggest losing stocks included MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, which shed 2 percent, followed by REE of appliances maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp, 0.8 percent, and MWG of electronics retail giant Mobile World, down 0.7 percent.

Three bank stocks were also among those that closed in the red this session. Stocks of state-owned lenders VCB of Vietcombank and MBB of Military Bank fell 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent respectively, while EIB of private mid-sized lender Eximbank dropped 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, rose 0.69 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies gained 0.47 percent.

Foreign investors were net buyers for the fifth consecutive session on all three bourses to the tune of VND100 billion ($4.31 million). Buying pressure was focused on HPG shares of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, and VHM of Vinhomes.