The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, was a sea of green with 279 stocks gaining and 146 losing. Total trading volume rose marginally over the previous session to VND8 trillion ($345.81 million), on par with last month’s average daily trading.

After weeks of consecutive net sells ok, foreign investors turned net buyers of HoSE stocks to the tune of VND207.5 billion. The most net bought stock was VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, which kept its opening price this session. The foreign investors bought up VJC shares with a net worth of VND266 billion.

But for these transactions, they would have remained net sellers. Analysts said aviation sector stocks have been attracting much cash flow in the last few days as a result of a Monday press release by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech, claiming that their Covid-19 vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, was more than 90 percent effective at preventing infections.

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 largest caps surged 0.89 percent, with 20 stocks gaining and five losing.

Topping gains was tickers in the banking sector. Of state-owned banks, MBB of mid-sized Military Bank climbed 3.2 percent, while Vietnam’s three largest lenders by assets, CTG of VietinBank, BID of BIDV, and VCB of Vietcombank, gained 3.1 percent, 1.8 percent, and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Among private banks, TCB of Techcombank rose 3.1 percent, VPB of VPBank 2.7 percent and STB of Sacombank 1.5 percent, while HDB of HDBank and EIB of Eximbank lost 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.

Other major gainers this session included SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., up 1.7 percent, HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, 1.6 percent, and KDH of real estate developer Khang Dien House and VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes, both gaining 1.4 percent.

Oil and gas stocks all performed well, but their gains were more modest than their VN30 peers. PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex added 0.4 percent, POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power 0.4 percent, and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, 0.1 percent.

In the opposite direction, MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group topped losses with 3.2 percent, followed by TCH of truck dealer Hoang Huy Group and SBT of agricultural firm TTC-Sugar, both down 0.3 percent.

The HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-caps, was up 0.08 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market gained 0.28 percent.