Momentum from last Friday's rally on the HCM City Stock Exchange continued, with the benchmark VN-Index edging up more than 1 per cent to reach 403.3 points.

The overall value of trades fetched VND356.3 billion (US$16.9 million) as 22.64 million shares changed hands.

Blue-chips performed well, pushing the VN30 - tracking the city's top shares - up 1.3 per cent to 469.99 points.

Among the big names performing well, insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Sacombank (STB) hit their ceiling prices along with nearly 90 advancers on the southern bourse.
Bank stocks including Vietinbank (CTG), Vietcombank (VCB) and Eximbank (EIB) also had a positive morning session, .

Meanwhile, on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index couldn't follow on from Friday's increase and lost 0.5 per cent. Closing this morning's session, the index stood at just 58.92 points.

Market value totalled only VND105.9 billion ($5 million) on a volume of 13.8 million shares.
The HNX30, representing the exchange's leading shares in terms of capitalisation and liquidity, also retreated 0.94 per cent to 110.12 points.

Afternoon trading will begin at 1 pm.