Vietnam’s benchmark index had stayed below its opening 855.08 points most of the trading day, but a surge of buy orders in the final 30 minutes allowed it to close 1.67 points above.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 227 stocks fall and 145 rise despite the index ending in the green this session.

Total trading volume fell over 10 percent to VND3.86 trillion ($166.79 million), its near lowest level this month. The average liquidity per session in July so far is VND4.3 trillion ($185.81 million).

The VN30-Index for HoSE’s 30 largest capped stocks climbed 0.31 percent, with 16 tickers gaining and 12 losing.

VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail led gains this session, surging 5 percent. VHM of sister real estate developer Vinhomes added 1.7 percent, while VIC of parent company Vingroup edged up 0.2 percent.

VIC and VHM are HoSE’s largest and third largest caps respectively, and together with VRE, contributed 2.3 points to the VN-Index, according to data from brokerage VNDIRECT.

PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas were some of the best performers this session, rising 1.5 percent and 1.3 percent respectively, while POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power moved the opposite direction, falling 0.8 percent.

The other big gainers were a mixed bag, with REE of appliances maker Refrigerated Electrical Engineering, up 3.9 percent, HDB of private HDBank, up 1.1 percent, and FPT of IT services giant FPT, and PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, both having risen 0.7 percent.

Of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, CTG of VietinBank and VCB of Vietcombank kept their opening prices, while BID of BIDV slid 0.4 percent.

ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros topped losses this session with 5.8 percent, although high percentage movements in its share price is common given ROS is the smallest capped stock on the VN30.

Next came SAB of major brewer Sabeco, down 1.2 percent, SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., down 1 percent, MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, with 0.6 percent, and MBB of state-owned midsized lender Military Bank, also with 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, tumbled 1.26 percent; and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 0.43 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers on all three bourses to the tune of VND85 billion ($3.67 million), with selling pressure mostly on HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, which rose 0.4 percent, and VPB of private VPBank, which gained 0.2 percent.