The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, was a sea of green with 313 stocks gaining and 134 losing.

Total trading volume again rose to its highest level ever, reaching VND18.54 trillion ($800.46 million), over four times the amount of cash circulating on the stock exchange this time last year.

Many securities companies predicted abundant cash flow and positive sentiment would drive the VN-Index over 1,204 points, a historical peak achieved in April 2018, this week.

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 largest caps gained 1.35 percent, on which 19 stocks gained and 10 lost.

Topping gains were four tickers in the real estate and construction sector. VHM of giant Vinhomes and TCH of Hoang Huy Group both hit their upper limit for the day, having risen 7 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively.

KDH of Khang Dien House and ROS of FLC Faros both gained 6.7 percent, while NVL of Novaland, bucked the trend, shedding 0.3 percent.

Stocks in food and beverages performed positively this session. SBT of agricultural exporter TTC-Sugar was up 4.8 percent, VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk 3.5 percent, and SAB of major brewer Sabeco, 2.1 percent.

In oil and gas, POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power added 4.7 percent, PLX of gasoline distributor Petrolimex two percent, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas 0.6 percent, while VJC of budget carrier Vietjet, its performance related to the sector, saw its ticker rise of 3.8 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s largest cap, gained 1.8 percent, while VRE of its retail arm Vincom Retail was one of the best gainers with 4.6 percent.

Almost all tickers in the red this session belonged to banks. In the private banking sector, TCB of Techcombank shed 1.3 percent, VPB of VPBank one percent, EIB of Eximbank one percent, HDB of HDBank 0.9 percent, while only STB of Sacombank gained 3.6 percent.

Of state-owned banks, BID of BIDV was down 0.5 percent, VCB of Vietcombank 0.3 percent, CTG of VietinBank kept its opening price, while MBB of mid-sized Military Bank shed 0.9 percent.

SSI of top brokerage SSI Securities Corporation was this session’s biggest loser with 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid-and small-caps, rose 1.72 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market gained 0.88 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the third consecutive session, to the tune of VND300 billion on all three bourses. Selling pressure was mostly on stocks outside the VN30 this session.