HÀ NỘI — Mid-cap and small-cap stocks boosted the local market on Wednesday while the market sentiment was weighed down by the US presidential election debate.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange inched up 0.14 per cent to 905.21 points after having declined as much as 0.39 per cent during the day.

The VN-Index dropped 0.93 per cent on Tuesday.

The southern market was driven by the gains of mid-cap and small-cap groups, which were up 0.87 per cent and 0.79 per cent, respectively.

The best gainers among those stocks were Đà Nẵng Rubber JSC (DRC), construction firms Sao Mai Corporation (ASM) and Coteccons (CTD), Bình Minh Plastic (BMP), and PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals (DPM).

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index rose 0.27 per cent to 858.54 points with 18 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity making gains.

The VN30 futures due on October 15 gained 0.67 per cent to 859.8 points.

Top large-cap gainers included Sacombank (STB), consumer firm Masan (MSN), SSI Securities (SSI), PetroVietnam Power Corp (POW), and retailer Mobile World Investment (MWG).

STB was the most active stock on the market with more than 28.3 million shares being traded. Sacombank shares jumped 3.8 per cent to VNĐ13,800 apiece.

By sector, the rubber sector had the best growth as the industry index jumped 4.2 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

Other increasing industries included brokerage, agriculture-forestry-aquaculture, retail, plastics and chemicals, seafood processing, food and beverage, and insurance.

On the negative side, the market sentiment was clouded by prolonged foreign net selling, which was VNĐ252.3 billion on Wednesday. The figure was down 59 per cent from Tuesday.

Most international and regional markets on Wednesday declined as investors waited for the results of the debate between US President Donald Trump and candidate Joe Biden.

“The local market is struggling with rising caution after it was struck on Tuesday,” Thành Công Securities Co (TCSC) said in its daily report.

“The VN-Index bounced back when it hit 900 points,” BIDV Securities Co (BSC) said.

Trading liquidity declined and the market breadth was quite balance, so it means the market will keep swinging in coming days, BSC said.

TCSC said the zone of 895 points and 905 points could be the strong support level for the VN-Index in the next few days.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index added 0.91 per cent to 132.93 points.

The northern market index dived 1.04 per cent on Tuesday.

Nearly 390 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ7.05 trillion (US$304 million). — VNS