Share prices on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on Friday were on a bumpy ride before closing on a brighter note as investors were cautious in the first session before buying sharply in the remaining time of the trading day.

VN-Index, the measure of 176 stocks on the bourse, treaded water in the first session as investors reacted cautiously to the US’s overnight fall.

However, strong rally of Sacombank (STB) starting from the opening time and rebounds of blue chips like furniture maker Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG), Vietcombank (VCB) and Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI) encouraged investors to pump money into the market.

VN-Index finally wrapped up the trading day at 582.84 points, rising 8.06, or 1.4 percent. Of the index members, 100 stocks gained and 47 lost grounds.

Ho Chi Minh Infrastructure Investment Company (CII), slid for the first time in five days, falling 2.3 percent, to VND63,500. The Ho Chi Minh City-based construction and property company has got approval to list more than 10 million shares, according to a statement to the exchange’s Web site. It didn’t give a timeframe.

Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Vietnam’s biggest listed insurance company and the exchange’s fifth-biggest stock, dropped 1.4 percent to VND36,600.

Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, or Vinashin, one of the founders of Bao Viet, will “transfer” its entire 20.4 million shares in the insurer to State Capital Investment Corp., which manages shares for Vietnamese government, Bao Viet said in a statement on the bourse’s Web site. It didn’t say why Vinashin, is transferring its stake or whether it was being paid. Bao Viet has 573 million shares outstanding.

Vincom (VIC) increased 2.29 percent to VND67,000. The Hanoi-based property company said on the exchange’s Web site that Nguyen Hien Thu, relative of supervisory board member Pham Thy Tho, registered to sell her entire holdings of more than 4,800 shares before December 28.

At the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also posted a small rally, advancing 2.7 points, or 1.49 percent, to close at 183.47. The UPCoM-Index of unlisted stocks extended its downward trend, losing marginally 0.01 point, or 0.02 percent, to 66.2 as of 11 pm.