HCMC – The impressive performance of two bigcaps, consumer goods company MSN and lender CTG, and the rising number of winning stocks helped the benchmark VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange rise 0.44% today, October 13.

With 185 stocks advancing and 203 others declining, the main index gained 4.03 points to 923.86. Trading volume dropped 21% to over 359 million shares while value contracted 28% against the previous session to some VND6.5 trillion, including VND906 billion worth of shares traded in block deals. Lender CTG expanded 5% with a matching volume of 10.92 million shares. Consumer goods company MSN closed up as much as 6.6% to VND74,800 and marked a seven-day winning streak. Other bluechips in general rose or fell slightly by 0.1-1.2%. Two lenders VCB, BID, housing developer VHM, and property firm VIC inched up 0.7% each. Meanwhile, steelmaker HPG slid 0.9%, mobile phone retailer MWG decreased 1.2%, and lender MBB lost 0.3%. Brewery firm SAB was the major drag for the main index as it plunged 2.2% to VND184,000. Among speculative stocks, property developer FLC led the southern market by liquidity with over 23 million shares changing hands. It closed up 6.2%. Industrial park developer ITA also ended in positive territory. It soared 3.2% and ranked second by liquidity on the southern bourse with more than 17.5 million shares transacted. Insurer BIC surged a staggering 7% and hit its ceiling price at the close. On October 29, the insurance company will close its shareholder list for an 8% cash dividend payment. As for the Hanoi market, the rise of largecaps such as lender ACB, construction firm VCG, and industrial firm VCS supported the HNX-Index, which edged up 0.18% versus Monday to 136.15. There were 50 stocks winning and 39 others losing on the northern bourse.