HCMC bourse prepares first rehearsal of trading system conversion

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) will conduct from March 4-8 the first rehearsal on shifting from the existing trading system to the new one provided by Korea Exchange (KRX).

In a notice issued Friday, the HoSE asked securities companies to prepare all necessary conditions for the scheduled conversion, with system and cutover tests happening March 7.

Then, from March 11-15, securities companies will test the placement of trading orders, ensuring stock trading activities like those in a normal trading day.

The HoSE noted that the first trading day on the new system is March 4. Data for the first trading day is that recorded at the end of the day.

At a ceremony held on February 19 to launch stock trading for the Lunar New Year, Nguyen Viet Ha, acting chairwoman of the HoSE, said the project, which had started in 2012, had completed its final acceptance test (FAT).

“Once put into operation, this system is expected to breathe new life into the Vietnamese stock market with many new solutions for payments and transactions,” she said.

According to broker KB Securities, the KRX system will bring about improved liquidity and meet requirements for achieving a market status upgrade from “frontier” to “emerging.”

When the system is fully operational, the benefits will include improving the number of orders and order matching speed, facilitating T+1 transactions, reducing payment time and diversifying investment products and forms.

The first beneficiaries will be securities companies, the exchange said, adding since the end of October 2023, a series of securities stocks have seen skyrocketing value, like MBS of MBBank Securities (up 78%), SSI of Saigon Securities (up 43%), HCM of Ho Chi Minh City Securities (up 66%) and VCI of Viet Capital Securities (up 42%).

The VN-Index, which tracks the performance of the HoSE, rose 5.55 points or 0.44% to 1,258.28 on Friday. The trading value on the major bourse decreased 9.72% to VND22.05 trillion ($894.12 million).