As many as 247 stocks gained and 104 lost on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, with 22 tickers hitting their ceiling prices, the highest they can go on a single trading day.

Total trading volume nearly doubled over the previous session to VND6.37 trillion ($271 million), the highest level in the past month. April’s average liquidity was VND4.2 trillion ($179 million) per session.

The VN30-Index for the market’s 30 biggest capped stocks rose 2.1 percent, with 28 gaining stocks and only one losing.

CTD of construction giant Coteccons led gains with 6.9 percent this session, its ceiling price, followed by VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail, up 6.2 percent.

VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, the third largest capped stock on the VN30, surged 5.3 percent, and contributed 2.63 points to the VN-Index on its own, according to data from brokerage firm VNDIRECT.

Notably, foreign investors sold over 35 million shares of VHM worth approximately VND2.15 trillion ($91.5 million) via the put through option.

The real estate developer has reported the highest profits among all blue chips in the first quarter at VND7.65 trillion ($325.5 million), up 185 percent year-on-year. In financial statements released last week, it attributed the profit surge to the profitable divestment of a subsidiary.

Meanwhile, VIC of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup, which owns both VRE and VHM, also added 2.5 percent.

Oil and gas stocks were among the big gainers this session, with GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas surging 4.7 percent, PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex rising 3.8 percent, and POW of energy generator PetroVietnam Power adding 3 percent.

Other major gainers included SAB of major brewer Sabeco, up 4.2 percent, and FPT of IT services giant FPT, up 3.9 percent, and HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, up 3.7 percent..

Not enjoying the surge were private banks Eximbank and HDBank, whose EIB and HDB stocks respectively kept their opening price and shed 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, added 1.23 percent, while UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 0.69 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers for the 25th consecutive session on HoSE, with a net sell value of VND2.55 trillion ($108.5 million), most of which came from the VHM put-through transactions in the morning session.