Two-thirds of listed lenders rallied, led by BIDV  BID.HM, the country's biggest partly private bank by assets, with a 4.24 percent jump. Top insurer BaoViet Holdings  BVH.HM climbed 5.17 percent on foreign buying.

The market was quiet ahead of a national public holiday, analysts said. Vietnam's stock and currency markets will be closed on May 2-3 and resume on Wednesday, May 4.

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

VN Index    

597.14

PREV. CLOSE    

591.67

% CHANGE    

+0.92%

HIGH    

597.21

LOW    

591.20

Change (%) 1-mnth     

2.770

Change (%) 3-mnth     

9.676

Change (%) 1-year     

5.205

52-week high    

641.06    

15-Jul-15

52-week low     

511.13    

25-Aug-15