The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 258 stocks gaining and 173 losing. Total trading volume abated slightly over the previous session, to 17.1 trillion ($741.7 million).

The benchmark index had flitted in and out of the red througout the trading day, but picked up in the final hour of trading as buy orders piled into the stock market’s big caps.

The highlight of this session came from the value of stocks bought by foreign investors, who scooped up a net of over VND940 billion on the HoSE, the biggest single-session net buy the bourse has seen since early September last year. They had been net selling in the previous five sessions.

The two most net bought tickers were VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup (down 0.6 percent), to the tune of VND623 billion, and KBC of real estate developer Kinh Bac City Development (up 6.9 percent), to the tune of VND361 billion.

The VN30-Index of the market’s 30 biggest caps drove climbed 0.38 percent, driving gains on the general market, with 14 gainers and 15 losers.

Topping gains for the fourth consecutive session was ROS of construction firm FLC Faros, up 6.8 percent and hitting its ceiling price. However, because ROS is the smallest capped ticker on the VN30 and even forecast by securities to fall out of the basket in the very next review, the ticker is much more volatile than most of the other blue chips.

Next were TCH of real estate developer Hoang Huy Group, up 6.4 percent, and SSI of top brokerage SSI Securities Corporation, with 5.5 percent.

Private banks were some of the best performers this session. STB of Sacombank and VPB of VPBank both gained 3.1 percent, TCB of Techcombank rose 1.7 percent, EIB of Eximbank 0.5 percent, while only HDB of HDBank shed 0.2 percent.

The same can be said for state-owned banks. CTG of VietinBank added 1.3 percent, BID of BID 0.8 percent, MBB of mid-sized Military Bank 1.5 percent, while VCB of Viecombank fell 0.9 percent.

In the opposite direciton, PLX of gasoline distributor Petrolimex topped losses with 1.4 percent. Also in oil and gas, Gas of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas was down 1 percent, POW of electricity generator kept its opening price, while VJC of budget carrier VietJet Air, whose performance is related to this sector, also saw its ticker shedding 0.5 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s biggest cap, dropped 0.6 percent, while VHM of its real estate arm fell 1.3 percent, and VRE of retail arm Vincom Retail added 1.1 percent.

Other major losers this session were those in food and beverage, namely VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, down 1.2 percent, MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, down 1.1 percent, and SAB of brewer Sabeco, with 1 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid-and small-caps, and UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market both ended their gaining streaks, shedding 0.1 percent and 0.23 percent respectively.