Foreign investors pile into stocks in July
HANOI: Vietnam's stock market experienced a vibrant July, marked by the strong recovery of foreign capital flows.
After months of subdued activity, foreign investors accelerated their disbursements, net buying more than 8.5 trillion dong or about US$325mil across all exchanges.
This marks the highest level of net buying from foreign investors since early 2023, signalling a renewed confidence in the market.
On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, foreign investors recorded a remarkable net buying value of 8.7 trillion dong.
They purchased shares worth 93.7 trillion dong and sold 84.9 trillion dong, maintaining a streak of 14 consecutive net buying sessions from July 2 to July 16.
The peak session came on July 3, when foreign inflows exceeded 2.27 trillion dong, following positive news on tax policy.
It was also among the most notable trading sessions of the year.
The highlight of foreign capital activity in July was SSI Securities Corp (SSI), which saw net foreign buying exceed 3.46 trillion dong.
The stock experienced 15 consecutive sessions of net buying, with individual days reaching up to 500 billion dong.
This not only reflected foreign investors' trust in the securities sector, but also pointed to optimism regarding the broader market outlook for the remainder of this year.
In addition to SSI, banking stocks also attracted significant foreign interest, including VPBank with 1.49 trillion dong, Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank with 1.36 trillion dong, Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank with 799 billion dong, and TPBank with 542 billion dong.
Stocks under the Vingroup umbrella continued to attract inflows, with Vingroup Joint Stock Co receiving over 516 billion dong and Vincom Retail Joint Stock Co drawing 306 billion dong.
Other prominent blue-chip stocks like VanEck Vietnam ETF, Mobile World Investment Corp and VNDirect Securities Joint Stock Co were also on the radar of foreign investors.
In contrast, Vietjet Air was the most heavily offloaded stock by foreign investors in July, with net outflows exceeding two trillion dong. Notably, on July 22 alone, nearly 1.9 trillion dong worth of shares were sold off.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, foreign investment remained positive, with a net buying value of over 547 billion dong during the month.
Saigon-Hanoi Securities Joint Stock Co led the way with 457 billion dong in net inflows in July alone, bringing the year-to-date figure to over 1.3 trillion dong.
CEO Group also stood out with net foreign purchases totalling 176 billion dong. Conversely, the UPCoM market saw net foreign selling of 743 billion dong, concentrated mainly in Masan Consumer Corp and Airports Corp of Vietnam stocks.
The strong return of foreign investors significantly contributed to the bullish momentum of Vietnam's stock market in July.
The VN-Index rose nearly 9% from the beginning of the month, closing at 1,502.52 points, and even reached a new historical high of 1,564.92 points during the July 29 session – the highest level ever recorded, reflecting a combination of positive domestic and international factors.
Experts attributed this resurgence of foreign inflows to growing expectations that Vietnam may soon be upgraded from a frontier to an emerging market. Macroeconomic indicators have also improved, with inflation under control, steady gross domestic product growth and a stable monetary policy framework.
These fundamentals are strengthening investor confidence, both domestically and internationally.
Nonetheless, some analysts cautioned that the current wave of foreign net buying could be short-lived, as investors might be capitalising on the market's recovery after its April downturn.
Given the elevated valuation levels, the possibility of short-term profit-taking remains a key risk that warrants close monitoring to avoid sudden corrections in the near future. — Viet Nam News/ANN
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