Oil, gas stocks surge, drive Ho Chi Minh City market gains

PLX jumped 6.9 percent to VND37,950 (US$1.45), while BSR gained 4.62 percent.

Other oil and gas stocks such as GAS, PVS, PVD, OIL, and PVT closed the trading session up, lifting the energy sector 4.23 percent, the strongest performance among market sectors.

The impressive performance of oil and gas stocks came as Brent crude prices remained above $91 a barrel.

Trading in PLX also surged.

More than 5.35 million PLX shares changed hands during the session, about 1.7 times higher than the average volume over the previous 10 sessions.

The stock's sharp rise followed Petrolimex's announcement that it plans to sell all of its more than 23.28 million treasury shares, equivalent to about 1.8 percent of its listed shares.

Besides oil and gas stocks, investors also turned to several industrial names.

GEX improved 1.43 percent, while GMD, VTP, and GVR advanced 0.89 percent, 2.19 percent and 2.07 percent, respectively.

Real estate stocks showed mixed performance.

VIC, VHM, VPI, and BCM ended up, while DXG fell 3.91 percent, and KDH and DIG lost 3.2 percent and 1.67 percent, respectively.

VN-Index pulls back after strong gains

Supported by oil and gas stocks and several large-cap names, the VN-Index gained more than 23 points at one point, moving above the 1,750-point level.

However, selling pressure intensified in the afternoon, erasing most of the index's earlier gains.

The VN-Index closed up 4.56 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,732.02.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index gained 3.68 points, or 1.32 percent, to 282.32, while the UPCoM-Index fell 0.72 points to 127.46.