Individual investors send new securities accounts to two-year high, near 2025 target

Vietnam recorded over 330,950 new securities accounts in August, increasing slightly from July (329,982) and marking the highest number since May-June 2022, according to Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSD).

The increase was driven by domestic individual investors while local institutional investors opened just 131 accounts last month.

In August, foreign individuals opened 262 new accounts while institutional investors closed seven. Both overseas individual and institutional investors had opened 217 new accounts the previous month.

As of end-August, the number of securities accounts registered in Vietnam stood at 8.71 million, approaching the 2025 target of nine million.

Vietnamese individual investors accounted for 99.19% or 8.64 million accounts, equivalent to 8.6% of the population. Local institutional investors had opened 17,281 accounts as of August while individual and institutional foreign investors activated 42,446 and 4,558 new accounts, respectively.

While the number of securities accounts has been on an upward trend, liquidity has been declining.

A report by Viet Dragon Securities Corporation shows that the average transaction value per session on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) in August was VND14.75 trillion ($599 million), down 2.8% from July and 30% from March-April.

Overall, the market was relatively sluggish in August as investors remained cautious. The VN-Index, which tracks the HoSE, closed August up 2.6% over July at 1,280 points but quickly returned to corrections early September.

However, net selling by foreign investors showed signs of slowing down after significant sell-offs in May-June.

So far this year, foreign investors have dumped nearly VND66 trillion ($2.68 billion) worth of stocks on HoSE, setting a new record.

Vietnam’s stock market outlook could brighten in the last two weeks of September in particular and H2/2024 in general on an expected increase in capital inflows from domestic investors, analysts with several local brokers have said.

The VN-Index closed Tuesday down 1% at 1,255.23 points.