HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares rose for the fifth session in a row on Thursday as investors piled into financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 1.16 per cent to end the session at 1,156.49 points.

The southern market index had gained 5.3 per cent in the last five trading sessions.

Nearly 764 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ17 trillion (US$733 million).

Market breadth was positive with 302 gainers and 142 decliners.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index was up 1.51 per cent to 1,130.59 points.

Twenty-three of the 30 large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket increased while four declined.

“The VN-Index surpassed 1,150 points today and is heading to the next psychological resistance at 1,200 points,” said BIDV Securities Co.

“The investment cash flow spread into the market. Market liquidity decreased slightly, market amplitude narrowed and market breadth was positive. All these indicators are supporting the rally of the VN-Index.

“However, foreign investors turned to be net sellers on both HoSE and HNX. Stable internal cash flow and high liquidity will continue to support the VN-Index to maintain its position above 1,150 points in the next few sessions,” the company said.

Foreign investors net sold VNĐ302.88 billion on HOSE, including Hoà Phát Group (HPG) with VNĐ-253.2 billion, Việt Capital Securities Inc (VCI) with VNĐ88.5 billion and SSI Securities Inc (SSI) with VNĐ64.1 billion. They were net sellers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ22.50 billion.

Shares were propelled by buoyant banking stocks, including Bank for Investment and Development (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Military Bank (MBB), Techcombank (TCB), HDBank (HDB), VPBank (VPB) and Vietcombank (VCB).

Following the move, local energy stocks also outperformed. PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) gained 2.5 per cent while others such as PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) soared 7 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.

Twenty-two of 25 sector indices on the stock market gained ground, including wholesale, real estate, IT, insurance, energy, healthcare, construction materials, banking, securities, agriculture, construction, retail, food and beverage, logistics and seafood processing.

They all gained between 0.1 and 3.9 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 2.15 per cent to close Thursday at 216.23 points.

It had gained 1.71 per cent to close Wednesday at 211.68 points.

More than 169 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ2.9 trillion. — VNS