HÀ NỘI — The market reversed course and finished higher on Tuesday, but the advance narrowed sharply towards the close as selling pressure increased across several sectors and capital concentrated in a handful of large-cap and oil and gas stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE) was up 4.56 points to 1,732.02 points, after briefly approaching the 1,750-point level earlier in the day.

Liquidity remained subdued, with trading value at more than VNĐ14.87 trillion (US$568 million). 

Market breadth reflected the growing divergence. HoSE finished with 129 gainers against 167 decliners. The number of stocks falling by more than 1 per cent rose to 93 by the close, compared with just 38 during the morning session.

The divergence was also evident among blue chips.

The VN30-Index, which had gained 0.12 per cent in the morning, reversed course to finish down 0.08 per cent. The basket recorded 15 advancing stocks and 12 decliners.

Support for the benchmark came largely from selected heavyweight stocks, particularly Vingroup (VIC) and Vinhomes (VHM), together with oil and gas shares.

The oil and gas sector emerged as one of the strongest areas of the market. Petrolimex (PLX) hit the ceiling price, while Petrovietnam Refining and Petrochemical Corporation (BSR) jumped 4.62 per cent. 

PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) advanced 3.48 per cent, PV Oil (OIL) gained 3.85 per cent and PV Drilling (PVD) climbed 1.93 per cent.

BSR and GAS had attracted investor attention from the beginning of the session following information that PetroVietnam planned to divest between 2 and 5 per cent of its holdings in the two companies.

Under the expected roadmap, valuations for the proposed transactions are scheduled to be completed by December at the latest.

The prospect of divestment comes as investors have been paying closer attention to State-owned and State-controlled enterprises, particularly those where changes in ownership could increase the amount of freely tradable shares available on the market.

In contrast, Techcombank (TCB), LPBank (LPB), Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Vietcombank (VCB) were among the largest drags on the market. Together, the five stocks erased approximately three points from the VN-Index.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index gained 3.68 points to reach 282.32 points. 

Foreign investors also remained a source of selling pressure. They recorded net sales of more than VNĐ767 billion on HoSE. — BIZHUB/VNS