Stock market sees last minute trading frenzy

January 02, 2018 | 16:32

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Over the last four weeks, the Vietnamese stock market saw an overwhelming record of share transactions, especially by leading Vietnam-based enterprises, despite previous forecasts of a rather “sedated pace” towards the last days of “assumedly the most exciting year in the stock market.”

Specifically, the first half of December witnessed excessive share sales conducted by foreign funds, mostly through the cyclical trading of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In the third week of December, foreign funds purchased a total of 38.7 million shares worth VND1.11 trillion ($48.9 million), roughly VND1.067 trillion ($47.05 million) of which were traded on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HSX), including the purchasing record of nearly VND524 billion ($23.1 million) worth of HPG stocks. Notably, the shares of Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) recorded numerous sales, especially after the recent $5-billion auction carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Besides, foreign funds’ net buying on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) surged by 51 per cent over the third week compared to the second week.

The highest closing records of VN-INDEX during 2007-2017

In the first trading session of the last week of 2017, foreign funds concentrated on selling the shares of Novaland Investment Group, taking home over VND124 billion ($5.46 million) through the negotiable instruments.

Meanwhile, on the HSX, foreign investment firms were on a heavy buying spree of the stocks of leading enterprises, such as Hoa Phat Group JSC (HSX: HPG), Vietnam National Petroleum Group (HSX: PLX), Saigon Securities Incorporation (HSX: SSI), Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam or Vietcombank (HSX: VCB) and Vingroup JSC (HSX: VIC).

In the December 26 trading session, foreign investors purchased a total of VND176.76 billion ($7.79 million) worth of stocks on HSX, including stocks of Masan Group Corporation (MSN), Vingroup (VIC), Vincom Retail JSC (VRE), Vietnam Dairy Products JSC or Vinamilk (VNM), and Hoa Phat Group (HPG).

During December 9-22, foreign funds, including PYN Elite Fund (Non-Ucits), KB Vietnam Focus Balanced Fund, and Dragon Capital, were reported to intensively engage in stock trading in construction and real estate. Notable tickers seeing a great deal of transactions included CII of Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC and NBB of NBB Investment Corporation.

Over the first eleven months of 2017, the total portfolio investments streaming into the Vietnamese stock markets exceeded $31.4 billion, which was about 81.3 per cent up against the collective trading volumes in 2016.

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