Hanoi-based lender Vietcombank, Vietnam's top listed firm by market value, climbed 2.75 percent, having retreated slightly from its record high intra-day level hit in early trade of 41,400 dong ($1.90).

All other banks advanced except for an unchanged Military Bank , with BIDV , the country's top partly private lender by assets, ticking up 2.81 percent and VietinBank increasing 1.12 percent.

Vietnam's credit grew 3.69 percent from the end of 2014 to May 8, the highest growth in that period for several years, while bad debts in February eased to 3.59 percent, from 4.75 in percent the previous month, the government has said.

VietinBank is due to sign a deal later on Friday to complete the merger with a smaller lender, PG Bank, a VietinBank executive was quoted on a state-run newspaper as saying. The merger was approved by VietinBank shareholders last month.

The Southeast Asian nation is also changing rules to give foreign investors bigger stakes in local banks in its latest move to rebuild a financial sector battered by bad debts, its prime minister said last month. 

Here is a snapshot of the VN Index  .VNI at midday (0431 GMT).

VN Index       

555.32

PREV. CLOSE       

552.56

% CHANGE         

+0.5

HIGH       

556.29

LOW       

550.81

Change (%) 1-mnth       

-1.722

Change (%) 3-mnth       

-5.906

Change (%) 1-year        

1.596

52-week high       

644.56     

3-Sep-14

52-week low       

513.06    

17-Dec-14

 Source: Reuters