Vietnam index ends up 0.2 percent in robust trade

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's benchmark VN Index edged up 0.21 percent on Friday in robust trade, with gains in several big caps cushioning losses in most shares. Top insurer BaoViet Holdings extended its gain to the second straight session, rising 4.63 percent to close at a 11-week high, while PetroVietnam Gas advanced 1.47 percent following oil price gains. Nearly 163 million shares changed hand, well above the five-day average of 156.2 million, Thomson Reuters data showed. The index, Southeast Asia's best performer this year, has risen 4.57 percent this week, bringing the accumulated gain so far in 2015 to nearly 8 percent. (Reporting by My Pham; Editing by Ho Binh Minh)