According to HOSE, in the last trading session of March, the VN-Index reached 662.53 points, down 25.77 percent; VNAllshare reached 591.5 points, down 27.72 percent; and the VN30 index reached 610.76 points, down 28.57 percent compared to February.

Total trading volume in March reached 5,990 million shares, equivalent to a total trading value of 97.8 trillion VND. The average trading value was 4.447 trillion VND (188.72 million USD), and the average trading volume was 272 million shares per session, down 7.4 percent in value, but up 7.22 percent in volume compared to the previous month.

The total trading value of foreign investors surpassed 32.6 trillion VND, accounting for 16.7 percent of the total buying and selling value of the whole market. Foreign investors finished as net sellers of 7.95 trillion VND.

By the end of March 31, HOSE had 383 stocks, three closed-end funds (CEFs), three Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), 62 covered warrants (CWs), and 44 listed bonds. The total number of listed shares reached 88.91 billion, and the total listed market capitalisation was 2.306 quadrillion VND, down 23.54 percent compared to the previous month.

Amid market difficulties, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular 14/2020/TT-BTC amending and supplementing a number of articles to Circular No.127/2018/TT-BTC regulating service prices in the securities sector applied at the Stock Exchanges and the Securities Depository Centre to support organizations and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including discounts and exemptions for 15 types of securities services. Immediately after Circular 14 came into effect, securities companies reduced and exempted some securities service fees to support customers.

The State Securities Commission also affirmed its support for the market, by shortening the processing time for dossiers to purchase treasury stocks to one day, instead of seven days as before.

Currently, the State Securities Commission, Stock Exchanges and securities companies are planning to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in any scenario, and at the same time implementing solutions to ensure safe and smooth market operations without affecting the interests of investors./.VNA

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