Foreign investors continue share purchases

The Hồ Chí Minh City exchange closed on August 3 with foreigners buying almost 950,000 shares at a cost of VND 124 billion while selling off just 346,210 shares for close to VND 37.8 billion.

The trend has been particularly evident over the last three sessions, on August 1 investors from abroad purchased VND 216 billion in stocks while selling off units for a combined total of VND 101 billion. The following day, on August 2, VND 154 billion in shares were snapped up.

The Hà Nội bourse saw VND 27 billion going out of foreigners’ pockets while just VND 4.7 billion returned to their coffers on August 3.
Shares of national giants were the biggest movers as the Việt Nam Milk Company (VNM) led in sales output followed by the Tân Tiến Plastic Bag Company, the Phả Lại Thermo-Electricity Company and the Petroleum Drilling and Service Company.

Deputy Director of the Vietcombank Joint Stock Company Mai Trung Dũng attributed the interest to the great opportunities that these giants may bring in for foreign investors to explore the purchasing power of the over 84 million-people market.

Underscoring the trend, the State Securities Commission reported that foreign investors now hold up to 30 percent of all of the country's listed shares.

Mr. Bùi Trọng Nghĩa, a financial expert from the Asia Development Bank, said the trend reflects foreign investors’ confidence in the Vietnamese stock market as well as the bright potential of the Vietnamese economy.