The index dipped into the red in the first 15 minutes of trading to 1,304 points, but bounced back and rose for the rest of the session to close with a gain of over eight points.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 166 stocks gain and 244 lose, with transaction volume growing 2 percent to VND21.69 trillion ($940.3 million).

For the first time since May 11, foreigners turned net buyers to the tune of VND114.46 billion, with strongest buying pressure on PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex, VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes, and VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail.

The VN30 basket, comprising the index’s 30 largest capped stocks, saw 16 tickers gain and 12 lose, with three lenders leading the blue-chip gains.

MBB of Military Bank rose 4.7 percent to a new peak and was the top contributor to VN-Index’s growth this session, pushing it up by 1.26 points. This ticker has stayed in the green for the last seven sessions.

TPB of private lender TPBank was up 2.4 percent, its sixth gaining session in a row. The stock has repeatedly climbed to new highs in recent months, gaining 34 percent since the beginning of this year.

TCB of the largest private lender, Techcombank, climbed 2.3 percent, hitting a new peak. It was the second biggest contributor to the index’s rise this session with 1.1 points.

On the losing side, POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation and TCH of real estate company Hoang Huy Investment Financial Services both slipped 2.1 percent. SBT of sugar producer Thanh Thanh Cong – Bien Hoa JSC was in the red for its second straight session, falling 1.8 percent.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 1.08 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market was up 0.18 percent.