The benchmark VN-Index rose to yet another new 10-year peak on November 20, ending the session at 903.55 points, up 13 points, or 1.44 percent over November 17’s close.

Investors at the SSI stock trading floor.

The southern market index advanced 2.6 percent last week.

The upturn was driven mainly by strong growth of some individual blue-chip stocks, especially real estate giant VinGroup (VIC) and its retail arm Vincom Retail (VRE) which both hit the daily limit rise of 7 percent.

VIC closed at 76,300 VND (3.36 USD) a share while a VRE share was traded at 47,700 VND each.

At this price, market capitalisation of these two companies was a combined 292 trillion VND (roughly 13 billion USD), surpassing the value of the biggest listed company Vinamilk at 11.9 billion USD.

VinGroup’s market value rose to the second place after Vinamilk (VNM) on November 20, while Vincom Retail’s market capitalisation ranked sixth, a big success since its debut on the HCM Stock Exchange on November 6.

Dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM) also rose 2.1 percent on November 20, hitting 187,000 VND per share.

The Singapore-based Jardine Cycle and Carriage (JC&C), through its 100-percent owned company Platinum Victory Pte Ltd, has raised its stake in Vinamilk to 10 percent.

It has become Vinamilk’s third largest shareholder after the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) with 36 percent and another Singapore’s food and beverages company Fraser and Neave (F&N) with 18.7 percent.

Other winning large caps included PV Gas (GAS), up 3.1 percent; Binh Minh Plastics (BMP), up 6.3 percent; Hau Giang Pharmaceutical (DHG), up 1.6 percent; and FPT Corp (FPT), 2.1 percent.

In the VN30 (which tracks the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange), list, 18 stocks gained and 11 lost.

The overall market condition was rather neutral with 143 stocks rising, 129 falling and 57 closing flat.

Despite a strong rally on November 20, Bao Viet Securities Co (BVSC) analysts have still warned of a possible correction after a strong rally.

“After an overheating period, the market is likely to experience short-term downtrend to ease the profit-taking pressure.  However, the market may not tumble but  decline slightly amidst a wide divergence among groups of stocks,” Tran Hai Yen, a BVSC analyst, wrote in a report on November 20.

Liquidity recorded a 7-session low at 176 million shares worth over 5.66 trillion VND (249.5 million USD). Foreign investors were net sellers for a modest value of 46 billion VND.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, without the support of large-cap stocks, the HNX-Index dropped 0.18 percent to close at 108.11 points. – VNA