Market closes March on a positive note

Market closes March on a positive note

The breadth of the market returned to positive territory, while liquidity also improved from the previous session.

A booth of Gelex Electricity at an exhibition. The company's shares logged the maximum daily gain of 7 per cent on Tuesday, supporting the market's bullish sentiment. — Photo gelex-electric.com

The stock market closed higher on Tuesday as liquidity continued to recover and breadth improved across sectors.

The VN-Index, representing the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE) ended the month up 11.95 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 1,674.49 points. Despite the rebound, the index remains well below earlier levels reached this month, down more than 11 per cent since the start of March and nearly 13 per cent from the year-to-date peak.

The breadth of the market returned to the positive territory, with the number of gainers surpassing that of decliners by 179 to 144. Liquidity also improved from the previous session, increasing to over VNĐ24.37 trillion (US$925.1 million).

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks in the southern bourse, increased 17.67 points, or 0.98 per cent, to 1,829.59 points. In the VN30 basket, 20 ticker symbols finished higher while eight ticked down and two stayed unchanged. 

Large-cap contributions to the VN-Index were led by Vingroup (VIC), which alone added about 9.39 points to the benchmark. Shares of the conglomerate soared 4.25 per cent. 

Other notable positive contributors included MBBank (MBB) up 2.72 points, Gelex Electricity (GEE) rising hitting the ceiling price, VPBank (VPB) jumping 2.3 per cent and VietinBank (CTG) up 1.62 per cent. 

Banking stocks performed well today following a recent directive from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) asking credit institutions to deploy coordinated measures to stabilise interest rates, enhance information transparency and tighten supervision to support macroeconomic stability and control inflation in 2026.

In its latest report, MB Securities (MBS) forecasted that profit after tax for the banking sector in the first quarter of the year would rise by about 20 per cent year-on-year. MBS maintains a positive view on the group as valuations have adjusted to attractive levels while growth prospects remain high.

The gains were capped by losses in some big names, with Binh Son Refining & Petrochemical (BSR) exerting the largest drag on the index, subtracting roughly 1.51 points. 

It was followed by PV Gas (GAS), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Techcom Securities (TCX) and Bao Viet Holdings (BVH).

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index rose 0.39 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 250.98 points.

Foreign investors remained net sellers for a 13th straight session on the HoSE, with total net outflows of VNĐ849.32 billion. 

Bizhub