Hanoi (VNA) - Shares extended gains to four days in a row on August 31 as investors continued to collect large-cap stocks, parti🌳cularly shares to be sold by t💖he Government.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index added 0.3 percent to close the session at 674.6 points. The Index has increased nearly 2.5 percent in the last four sessions. The HNX-Index on the smaller exchange in Hanoi was up 0.8 percent to end at 84.4 points. It rose 0.6 percent on the previous day. Large-cap shares were mixed. The shares which would be sold by the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to reduce the State holdings in big companies like dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), software producer FPT Corp (FPT), Bao Minh Insurance (BMI), Binh Minh Plastic (BMP) and Tien Phong Plastic (NTP) rose strongly. The biggest listed stock Vinamilk gained 2.5 percent while others climbed between 3 percent and 4.5 percent. In mid-August, the Government asked SCIC to draw up a roadmap for selling State holdings in 10 big State-owned enterprises, of which eight businesses are listing shares on the two national stock exchanges with a combined market capitalisation of around 4.5 billion USD. On the other end of the spectrum, some blue chips declined and restrained the market. Big losers included real estate giant VinGroup (VIC), Masan Group (MSN), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and lender BIDV (BID). Besides blue chips, many investors focused on realty and steel stocks with eight of the top 10 most active codes from property and steel manufacturing firms. Each of these shares saw between 2.7 million shares and 5.9 million shares change hands. Prices of these shares also increased 1-4 percent. “Market development remained positive and facilitate trades in the short- and medium-term period,” stock analysts at Maritime Bank Securities Co wrote in a report. Growth of leading shares in real estate, consumer goods and insurers, as well as improvement in liquidity showed a sign of a longer rise, the report said. However, it warned a short downward correction when the VN-Index approaches the 680 point level, driven by rising profit-taking selling pressure. A total of nearly 157 million shares worth 3.5 trillion VND (157 million USD) were traded in the two markets yesterday, up 12.1 percent in volume and 20.7 percent in value over the August 30 figures. Foreign investors remained net sellers in the HCM City’s market but their net sell value decreased to 31 billion VND from 117 billion VND seen on August 30. They remained net buyers in the Hanoi’s market for a net value of 14 billion VND.-VNA