Foreign investors remain optimistic about Vietnamese stock market

SSI Securities Inc. (SSI)'s strategic report for October noted that even though ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) capital continued to experience net withdrawals, the pace of withdrawal slowed down in the latter half of September.

Meanwhile, a recent Q4 strategic report by KIS Vietnam Securities Corporation also revealed that although foreign investors maintained net selling, their trading activities bounced back, reaching the highest level in the year.

According to Petri Deryng, a portfolio manager for the Finnish-based PYN Elite fund, the recent sharp drop of the VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, was due to excessive concerns of individual investors when the State Bank of Vietnam intervened to stabilise the exchange rate. The most challenging period for the Vietnamese financial market was in November 2022 when the corporate bond market froze, and capital in the banking system tightened. At present, liquidity in the Vietnamese financial system is strong, and lending activities are picking up.

The fund expects the market to return to an upward trajectory by the end of the year and continue to grow in the long term due to relatively low market valuations. It forecasts strong GDP growth in Vietnam next year, with income growth of listed companies predicted to stand at around 25-30%.

Echoing the view, Andy Ho, Chief Investment Officer of VinaCapital Group, also expressed optimism about the Vietnamese stock market in the final months of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. He believed that in the long term, Vietnam's GDP will continue to grow at a rate of 6-7% per year. This will create a favourable environment for listed companies to achieve a stable annual profit growth of 15-25%./.