Cheered by movement in the global markets, the VN-Index stepped over the psychological 500 mark yesterday to close the Friday session at 512.99 points.
The index jumped 3.18 per cent on an improving volume of 58.1 million shares, up 40.3 per cent from Thursday's session, to generate an accumulative turnover of VND1.96 trillion (US$103.67 million).
Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) continued to be the most active stock, doubling trading volume from Thursday to 3.06 million shares.
At the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index gained ground to 166.71 points with a 4.30 per cent surge. Trading was busier with 44.8 million shares changing hands, worth a total of VND1.43 trillion ($75.3 million).
PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) made the biggest impression with the trade of 4.8 million shares.
Nguyen Anh Dung, an independent analyst, said that major capital was concentrative in penny stocks, which meant speculative capital was governing trading, resulting in the instability of market uptrend.
"In addition, institutional investors usually take advantage of such situations to make a profit while individuals tend to hold on to their stock. The increase in trading might not be a good sign," Dung added, noting the volatility of global markets.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Huy Duong, a market analyst with a Ha Noi-based securities company, said that strong advances yesterday were reasonable taking into account the last few days.
In addition, the advance was backed by favourable conditions in the global market, Duong said, pointing to the Dow Jones that reached 10,000 points overnight. "A short-term uptrend might be confirmed and a resistance mark for the VN-Index would be 520 points".
Foreign investors continued to be net-buyers in HCM City, picking up 1.7 million shares at a value of VND101.2 billion ($5.3 million). While, they turned to profit hunting in Ha Noi, selling off 147,700 shares, earning a net-value of VND1.5 billion.