Vietnam stock market hits new peak: Opportunities and challenges for investors

In a series of 7 consecutive increasing sessions, VN-Index has officially conquered 1,600 points, the highest level in the 25-year history of the Vietnamese stock market. At the end of the session on August 12, the index representing the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange increased by more than 11 points, reaching 1,608 points. Since the beginning of August, this index has increased by a total of 113 points, equivalent to nearly 8% of its value.

Rush to open new accounts as Vietnamese stocks hit new highs

Cash flow continued to be the main driving force for this increase, when the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange recorded 1.64 billion shares changed hands, worth more than VND45,320 billion. The large-cap group accounted for nearly half with more than VND20,600 billion.

Previously, VN-Index also recorded an increase of 126.5 points (9.19%), reaching 1,502.5 points, officially surpassing the historical peak set in 2021. The average transaction value increased by 76% over the same period last year, reaching VND 32,827 billion and increased by 80% compared to the average of the first 5 months of the year.

The stock market has grown strongly, many stocks with profits calculated by times have attracted a lot of people, along with a large amount of money poured into this investment channel. Data from the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC) shows that in July, the whole market had 226,153 new securities accounts, the highest level of the market ever.

Thereby, the total number of accounts as of the end of July reached 10.447 million, equivalent to 10.4% of the population and nearly reaching the target of 11 million accounts by 2030 set by the Government .

The atmosphere of "everyone, everyone" entering the stock market like in the period of 2020 - 2022 has reappeared, even for those who have never thought about investing in stocks before. Mr. Tran Quang, a teacher in An Khanh Ward - Ho Chi Minh City, who was only used to saving money, tried opening an account with 200 million VND to buy stocks and immediately earned 15% interest after only 1 week.

Seeing the effectiveness, he continued to withdraw 500 million VND from his savings account to buy more stocks. "In just one month, my account has gained more than 20% interest, if I had deposited it in the bank, it would have taken 3 years to get the same amount. I have taken the profit but still wonder whether I should buy it back or not" - Mr. Quang shared.

The story of Duyen, a bartender in Xuan Hoa Ward (HCMC), is even more interesting. Duyen was shown by her friends how to open a securities account on an e-wallet and buy 1 stock for less than 20,000 VND but earn a profit of 26% in just 2 weeks. Seeing how easy it was to make money, Duyen continued to deduct 2 million VND from her salary to invest and is currently earning a profit of more than 10%. "For me, this profit is huge. This is also an opportunity for me to learn how to invest, save and trade stocks" - Duyen said.

Not only new investors but also investors who had "run away" have returned to the market. Mr. Phan Thien, a resident of Binh Trung Ward - Ho Chi Minh City, once declared that he would "never return to the stock market" after losing more than 300 million VND, but recently "restarted" his account when he saw the great attraction of the market along with the invitation of his friends. As a result, Mr. Thien quickly made a profit of more than 15% within 1 month. "This is something I could not have imagined before" - he said.

Cannot increase forever

According to Mr. Vo Minh Thanh, Investment Consulting Director of VPS Securities Company, the stock market is benefiting from both macro factors and investor psychology. Specifically, the Government is steadfast in its goal of upgrading the market and the necessary conditions are almost complete.

Monetary policy is also in a loosening cycle, as by the end of July, credit across the system had increased by about 10% compared to the end of 2024, equivalent to 1.56 million billion VND pumped into the economy . On the other hand, savings interest rates remain low, causing cash flow to find higher-yielding channels.

"Channels such as real estate, gold, and foreign currency are all less attractive. Specifically, real estate has high costs and low liquidity; gold has passed its big wave; foreign currency has little fluctuation. The amount of idle money in the banking system is up to more than 18 million billion VND according to the State Bank's announcement, which is still a huge resource that can flow into stocks," Mr. Thanh commented.

In fact, the cash flow in the stock market in recent days has been described by securities companies as "strange" and "very strong", surpassing the analytical models they usually apply. Mr. Huynh Anh Tuan, General Director of Vikkibank Securities Company, said that this is the period when cash flows join forces to flow into the market.

Not only professional investors' money, but also retirees' money, long-term savings, investment loans, and even capital flows from securities companies, investment funds, and insurance companies. "They wait for strong market conditions like now to disburse, causing margin debt to increase rapidly," he said.

Even foreign investors have returned to net buying strongly in the Vietnamese stock market. Statistics from SSI Securities Company show that in July, this group net bought VND8,500 billion, reversing the net selling trend of VND1,900 billion in June, thereby narrowing the net selling volume since the beginning of the year to VND37,500 billion.

According to Mr. Tuan, the market has not yet peaked because many industry groups still have room to grow. Banking stocks have only grown by more than 15% and have not returned to their old peak; real estate stocks are only prominent in a few bluechip codes, while oil and gas and other groups have not broken out. "More importantly, the market is going up but there is no phenomenon of "one code continuously hitting the ceiling" like in the 2021-2022 period, instead there is differentiation, investors are still cautious despite the fear of missing out on opportunities. It is this increase in doubt that helps the market cool down and makes it difficult to fall deeply" - he analyzed.

However, he also emphasized that stocks cannot increase forever. Investors should take reasonable profits and restructure their portfolios to other more positive sectors. "Accepting low interest rates means low risks and when there are still many people holding money waiting to buy, the market will hardly fall sharply," he said.

According to SSI Securities Company, the current growth momentum of the stock market is mainly due to a stable macro foundation, with the 2025 GDP growth target reaching 8.3% - 8.5%, among the highest in the world ; public investment continues to be promoted; foreign direct investment (FDI) is attracted, production and consumption are all increasing despite global tariff pressure.

"Fiscal policy continues to lead, while monetary policy plays a supporting role with the goal of increasing credit and reducing lending rates. In particular, next October, FTSE's upgrading of Vietnam to "emerging market" is expected to create a turning point for the capital market," said an expert from this company.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/chung-khoan-lien-tuc-lap-dinh-moi-196250812201618323.htm