Shares finish higher in final session prior to Tết holiday

Workers at a factory of Thành Công Textile Garment Investment Trading Joint Stock Company (TCM). TCM gained 6.6 per cent Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

Shares finished higher during the final trading session prior to the Tết holiday on Friday, propped up by the growth of banking and textile stocks.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose 0.56 per cent to close at 1,478.96 points.

The index had declined 0.73 per cent, to finish Thursday at 1,470.76 points.

The market's breadth was positive with 307 gainers and 129 decliners.

On HoSE, investors poured over VNĐ20.7 trillion (US$913.9 million) into the market, equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 703 million shares.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, gained 1.03 per cent, to 1,532.24 points.

Of the VN30 basket, 21 stocks rose to cushion the market, while seven declined.

In the VN-30 basket, the most notable gainers were Tiên Phong Bank (TPB) and FPT Corporation (FPT) as they both surpassed 4 per cent. They were followed by Phát Đạt Real Estate (PDR), SSI Securities Inc (SSI), VPBank (VPB) and Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ), all rising above 3 per cent. PVPower (POW), Vincom Retail (VRE) and Military Bank (MBB) all advanced more than 2 per cent

Meanwhile, PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) was the strongest loser of the group as the company dropped 2 per cent.

Stocks in industry groups of banking and textile grew strongly, helping the VN-Index to end the session higher.

The banking group outperformed and supported the gains of the market with notable gainers including Bank for Invetment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Tiên Phong Bank (TPB), Techcombank (TCB), VPBank (VPB), Military Bank (MBB), Sacombank (STB) and Eximbank (EIB).

The textile and garment industry experienced a positive trading day with notable industry-representative stocks increased strongly. In which, Century Synthetic Fiber Corporation (STK) hit the daily limit gain of 7 per cent. Sông Hồng Garment Joint Stock Company (MSH), Thành Công Textile Garment Investment Trading Joint Stock Company (TCM) and Việt Thắng Corporation (TVT) all gained more than 6 per cent. TNG Investment and Trading JSC (TNG) advanced more than 2 per cent and Việt Nam National Textile & Garment Group (VGT) inched slightly above 1 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index gained 1.33 per cent, to close Friday at 416.73 points.

It had lost 0.13 per cent to close Thursday at 411.27 points.

More than 67.6 million shares were traded on the southern exchange, worth VNĐ1.8 trillion.