The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange continued its upward momentum on Tuesday in spite of heavy selling to take profits from the previous days of rising.

The VN-Index, the gauge of 170 leading stocks on the exchange, inched up 0.91 points, 0.17 percent, to close at 547.69, the highest total in the last year.

The market’s liquidity continued to increase, with around 72 million shares being traded for more than VND2.9 trillion. Of the index’s members, 62 stocks rose against 92 falling.

The US’s overnight fall in Wall Street triggered a wave of selling in the first session starting on 8:30am, as investors were concerned stocks had rocketed too high, too fast.

On Wall Street Monday, stocks fell in light trading. The Dow fell 47.92 points, 0.5 percent, to 9,496.38. The S&P 500 index fell 8.31, 0.8 percent, to 1,020.62, while the Nasdaq fell 19.71, one percent, to 2,009.06.

But later rallies on Asian markets restored clam sentiment, helping the VN-Index to rebound.

The Shanghai Composite Index was up 12.09 points, 0.5 percent, to 2,679.84, following a 6.7 percent plunge Monday that took it to its lowest level in three months.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 119.83 points, 0.6 percent, to 19,844.02, while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average was also 0.5 percent higher, gaining 48.08 points to 10,540.

Elsewhere around the Pacific Rim, shares were higher in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Australia but declined in Indonesia, the Philippines and New Zealand.

On the Ho Chi Minh City bourse, financial stocks including Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) and Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (STB) led the rally after retreating in the opening period.

The HCMC-based bank was the most active stock by volume, followed by the brokerage, with 7.4 million and 3.5 million shares exchanging hand respectively.

FPT Corporation (FPT), the Hanoi-based software developer, was among today’s losers, closing lower 1.69 percent at VND87,500. Truong Dinh Anh, a board member, registered to sell more than 1.3 million shares to reduce his holdings to 617,805 before December 31, according to a statement on the exchange’s website.

Dairy maker Vinamilk (VNM) also dropped 1.27 percent to close at VND156,000. The company said on the exchange’s website that Nguyen Thi Nhu Hang, deputy general director, sold 30,000 out of her holdings of 76,790 shares early this month.

At the smaller bourse in Hanoi, the HNX-Index also closed on a slightly brighter note, gaining 0.02 percent to finish at 172.2.