Foreign players net sell record $2.6 bln worth of Vietnam shares in 8 months

Foreign investors net sold a total of VND64,718 billion ($2.6 billion) worth of equities on Vietnam’s stock exchanges in the first eight months of this year, a new record.

They net sold VND64,059 billion ($2.58 billion) on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) and VND959 billion on the unlisted public companies market UPCoM, while net buying VND300 billion on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

The net selling value in January-August already surpassed the previous record of VND62,538 billion ($2.52 billion) in the whole of 2021, exchange data showed.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam in 2020, foreign investors have net sold a combined VND140,405 billion ($5.65 billion) worth of Vietnamese equities, except for net buying VND29,140 billion in 2022.

Their selling force eased on the HoSE in August, with a net value of VND3,611 billion ($145.22 million) compared to VND8,376 billion in July, VND16,594 billion in June, and VND15,606 billion in May.

Foreign players mostly unloaded HoSE-listed blue chips, with a net selling value of VND45,400 billion ($1.83 billion) recorded at the VN30 basket, which comprises the 30 biggest tickers.

Between January and August, VHM of Vinhomes was the most sold on the HoSE at VND15,427 billion ($620.43 million), followed by VRE of Vincom Retail with VND4,884 billion. They also net sold VND3,257 billion worth of VIC shares of Vingroup.

Foreign traders took profit on FPT shares of tech giant FPT Group that rallied markedly to hit new heights. They net sold VND3,800 billion ($152.8 million) of this ticker.

They also withdrew from two F&B majors: VND3,503 billion ($140.88 million) worth of MSN shares of Masan Group and VND3,261 billion worth of VNM shares of Vinamilk. Brewer Sabeco saw a net outflow of VND838 billion ($33.71 million) in the eight-month period.

Net selling was also seen in financials, including VND3,071 billion ($123.5 million) of VPBank, VND2,943 billion of Techcombank, VND990 billion of VietinBank, VND855 billion of SHB, VND2,501 billion of VNDirect Securities, and VND773 billion of Saigon Securities.

Two steel giants Hoa Phat Group and Hoa Sen Group also saw foreign leaving, with respective net values of VND2,899 billion ($116.6 million) and VND1,061 billion.

Notably, foreign net sales intensified at fund certificates of ETFs, including VND7,700 billion ($309.7 million) at the Dragon Capital-run DCVFM VN Diamond ETF and VND2,112 billion at the SSIAM VNFin Lead ETF.

On the other side, international traders net bought shares of MBBank with VND2,478 billion ($99.66 million), Mobile World with VND2,065 billion, and Nam Long Group with VND1,005 billion.

They net bought between VND500 billion ($20.11 million) and VND1,000 trillion at Vietnam Airlines, Petrolimex, Khang Dien House, Dabaco, and Sacombank.

In the final months of this year, foreign traders are expected to slow net sales of Vietnamese equities further or even return to net buying as market regulators are considering removing prefunding requirements.