Foreign Holdings of Vietnamese Securities Hit All-time High: Watchdog

Foreign investors have been buying in Vietnamese stocks since the start of this year, bringing their portfolio value to a record high of $18.4 billion.


     Foreign investors' Vietnamese securities holdings have been swelling. Photo: the1thing.com

Despite capital outflows from emerging markets, overseas players have been buying in securities in Vietnam since the start of this year, bringing the value of their portfolios to an all-time high of $18.4 billion at the end of January, said Vu Bang, chairman of the State Securities Commission (SSC).

The amount would reach $20 billion if cash in their stock accounts is included, Bang said at a press meeting on Thursday.

Foreign investors have purchased 1.55 trillion dong ($67.8 million) worth of shares and 5.96 trillion dong ($261.4 million) in bonds in Vietnam in the year to date, he added.

As of March 3, the benchmark VN-Index of the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) increased 7.7% from the end of 2016 while the HNX-Index of the Hanoi bourse climbed 8%.

Buoyed by share gains and new listings, the market capitalization has grown 16% from end-2016 to 2,260 trillion dong ($99.2 billion) presently, also the highest since the local stock market was launched in 2000. The value is equivalent to 50.3% of the country’s GDP.

The chairman of the stock market watchdog informed that the local stock market is expected to lure more foreign inflows with the launch of the derivatives market in May and the debut of covered warrant in September.

Tuan Minh / BizLIVE