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The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) ended the month plummeting 5.81 percent to 882.19 points while VN-Allshare and VN30 Indexes dropped 2.97 percent and 1.96 percent, respectively, from January.

VN30 Index comprises 30 leading companies in terms of market capitalisation and liquidity. The VNAllshare consists of those in the VN100 and the VNSmallcap of companies with low market capitalisation.

But the VN-Index was not among those hardest hit by the epidemic since the US’s Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 10 percent, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index down 11 percent and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) 6 percent.

As of the end of February, there had been 383 stocks, three closed-end fund certificates, two ETFs, 63 guaranteed warrants, and 44 bonds listed on the HoSE. The number of shares listed on the southern bourse was 88.84 billion while the HoSE’s market capitalization totaled 3.016 quadrillion VND (nearly 129.8 billion USD), down 5.8 percent from the previous month and equivalent to 54.5 percent of the GDP in 2018.

Market liquidity has improved with average trading value reaching 4.8 trillion VND per session, up 34.2 percent, while trading volume picked up 24.06 percent to 253.8 million share.

According to the HoSE, net foreign selling in February was 2.73 trillion VND. The shares traded by foreign investors were worth 29.3 trillion VND, presenting 10.29 percent of the market’s total trading value. Top buys included HDBank (HDB) (85.8 billion VND), sugar producer Thanh Thanh Cong – Bien Hoa JSC (SBT) (57.1 billion VND), Sacombank (STB) (38.9 billion VND), Digiworld Corporation (DGW) (34 billion VND) and Vinhomes (VHM) 33.4 billion VND).

Profits of Vietnam’s stock market predicted to stay flat in 2020

It is expected the Vietnamese stock market will be less volatile in March compared to the previous months.

Equitisation vital for VN stock market growth

The successful equitisation and capital divestment of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) would create benefits that boosted the stock market and business performance, experts have said.