HO CHI MINH CITY, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnam Stock Index or VN-Index, a capitalization-weighted index of all the companies listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, surpassed the 1,000-point level this week, making a new ten-year record high.

This week, also the first trading week of 2018, the index conquered the long-desired 1,000-point threshold.

Investors' confidence on market outlook continued to be the main engine for the bourse this week.

They poured most of the money into banking and energy sectors due to high Q4 earnings expectations and positive development on the global oil market.

Gainers were led by VPBank (VPB), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG) and BIDV (BID), PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) and Petrolimex (PLX).

Foreign investors remained net buying this week. They mainly traded on large-cap stocks on the bourse, said local stock analysts.

The index closed at 1,012.65 points on Friday, down 7.1 points, or 0.7 percent. From the previous week's closing session, the index won 28.41 points, or 2.88 percent.

During the week, the index got three ups and one down, posting the highest level of 1,019.75 points on Thursday, and the lowest level of 995.77 points on Tuesday. In comparison, it ranged between 958.32 points and 984.24 points in the previous week. (Transaction stopped on Monday due to New Year's Eve holiday)

About 284.030 million shares worth 7.727 trillion Vietnamese dong (344.88 million U.S. dollars) changed hands at the southern Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on Friday, an increase of 12.3 percent in volume and 21.83 percent in value against Thursday.

Over 960.253 million shares worth 26.050 trillion Vietnamese dong (over 1.112 billion U.S. dollars) were traded on the bourse this week, a decrease of 0.14 percent in volume and 12.02 percent in value against the previous week.

Many local stock experts predicted the index may maintain the upward trend and reach 1,050 points in the next trading stage.