Shares gain on oil stocks

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index increased 0.17 per cent to 977.26 points.

Liquidity was modest with 90.7 million shares worth a combined VNĐ1.7 trillion (US$73 million) traded on the southern bourse.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged down 0.31 to 106.11 points.

Twelve of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange gained value and only nine declined.

Real estate, mining, banking, agriculture and construction materials were among the best-performing industries.

Their indices rose by between 0.07 and 0.8 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Gainers in the mining group included PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) and PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW). The mining sector had a good trading session, strongly supporting the overall market.

Afternoon trading starts at 1pm.