Benchmark indices edged up on Thursday and rallied for a second straight session, while foreign investors continued strong net selling.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 1.32 points, or 0.1 per cent to close the trading session at 1,301.51 points.

The market's breadth was also positive as the number of gainers surpassed that of losers by 168 to 162. Liquidity on the southern bourse still remained high at VNĐ23 trillion (US$900 million), equivalent to a trading volume of 891 million shares.

The 30 biggest stocks tracker, the VN30-Index, climbed 2.04 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 1,333.85 points. Fourteen ticker symbols in the VN30 basket edged up, while fifteen inched down, and one stock ended flat.

Leading the market's uptrend were pillar stocks in the banking industry.

Data compiled by the financial website vietstock.vn showed that the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) was the biggest gainer on the market and led the market's trend in terms of capitalisation. Shares of the lender rose by 2.53 per cent, contributing more than 0.6 points to the VN-Index.

It was followed by the Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBB), whose shares increased 1.95 per cent; Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (CTG), up 1.19 per cent; Liên Việt Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (STB), up 1.14 per cent and Tiên Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPB), up 2.98 per cent.

Limiting the rallies, some big stocks still faced strong sell-offs. FPT Corporation (FPT) posted a decrease of 1.52 per cent, Sabeco (SAB) was down 2.09 per cent, and Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB) lost 0.34 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also finished higher on Thursday. It rose 0.02 per cent to 248.36 points, the fifth consecutive positive trading session.

During the session, more than VNĐ1.7 trillion worth of shares, equivalent to a trading volume of over 81 million shares, were moved on the northern market.

On the other hand, foreign investors extended their net selling spree as they net sold over VNĐ1.4 trillion on the HoSE. — VNS