The Vietnam stock market index most commonly used is the VN-Index. This is made up of a basket of stocks listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange–or HoSE for short–and is published and analysed in most major news publications in Vietnam daily.

That said, there are several other indexes, both domestic and foreign,that track different aspects of Vietnam’s key stock exchanges.

This article breaks down several key indexes including the VN-Index, the VN30, the HNX, the HNX30, the MSCI Vietnam Small Cap Index, MSCI Vietnam Index (USD), FTSE Vietnam All-Share Index, and the FTSE Vietnam Index.

Note that these indexes may be easier to understand with a general background of the structure of how stocks are traded in Vietnam. In this light, first reading The Vietnam Stock Exchange: Quick Guide 2024 may prove helpful.

HoSE Indexes

The HoSE is Vietnam’s biggest stock exchange with about 400 companies with a total market capitalisation of US$172 billion as of October of 2023. The HoSE is currently considered a frontier market with several reforms needed before it can be upgraded to an emerging market. This, however, has not deterred foreign investors with a number of international securities firms buying into the market both directly and through exchange-traded funds.

The HoSE itself tracks the market through several indexes. The two most well-known are the VN-Index and the VN30.

VN-Index

The VN-Index contains all of the stocks listed on the HoSE. These are weighted based on their market capitalisation and provide a broad overview of the stock market. This index is the most well-known and the most widely reported in the media.

VN30

Aside from the VN-Index, the other major index used in Vietnam is the VN30.

The VN30 is an index of 30 stocks listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange based on their market capitalization, free float, and liquidity. Essentially, key decision makers at the HoSE:

• Take the top 50 stocks by market capitalisation on the stock exchange;
• Remove any stocks with a free-float ratio of less than five percent; and then
• Sort them by their average daily transaction value over the preceding six months.

The top 30 on this list then form the VN30 for the next six months–This is adjusted on the fourth Monday in January and July each year. 

List of stocks in the VN30, December 2023

Source: Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange | VN30 stock basket

MSCI

Morgan Stanley Capital International–or MSCI–has several key indexes that include stocks listed on the HoSE.

MSCI Vietnam Index

The MSCI Vietnam Index includes 56 stocks that cover about 85 percent of the value of the HoSE. As of January 2024, the Vietnam Index was divided by real estate at 27.9 percent, financials at 25.33 percent, consumer staples at 16.28 percent, materials at 14.86 percent, and industrials at 9.23 percent.

MSCI Vietnam Small Cap Index

A total of 121 constituents make up the MSCI Vietnam Small Cap Index. Overall the bulk of the index in January of 2024 was made up of industrials which accounted for 29.72 percent, real estate for 17.75 percent, materials for 13.48 percent, financials for 13 percent, consumer staples for up to 9.14 percent, and consumer discretionary for 8.22 percent.

Top 10 stocks, January 2024

Source: MSCI Vietnam Small Cap Index – Factsheet

MSCI Frontier Markets Index

In January of 2024, Vietnam accounted for 27.12 percent of the market capitalization of the MSCI Frontier Markets Index. This put Vietnam well ahead of the next closer market which was Romania with 11.5 percent.

Of note, Vietnam has been actively courting an upgrade from MSCI from frontier to emerging, however, the HoSE still lags on a number of fronts. In the 2023 MSCI Market Accessibility Review, the firm listed eight criteria holding Vietnam’s key stock market back from an upgrade. This included: the level of foreign ownership permitted, foreign room levels, equal rights for foreign investors, the foreign exchange market liberalisation level, investor registration and account setup, market regulations, clearing and settlements, and transferability.

FTSE Russel

FTSE Russel tracks the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange through several indexes.

FTSE Vietnam All-Share Index

The FTSE Vietnam All-Share Index is a broad index of the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. The top 10 stocks included in the index, as of January 2024, made up 50.19 percent of the index. These stocks covered industrials, telecommunications, real estate, food, banks, and retail. In total, there were 57 stocks included in the index with a collective market capitalisation of about US$39.2 billion.

FTSE Vietnam Index

The FTSE Vietnam Index is made up of stocks included in the Vietnam All-Share Index that have stock available for purchase by foreign investors. The top five constituents of the index, as of January 2024, were Hoa Phat Group which is most well known for steel production; real estate developer, Vinhomes; Vingroup, the parent company of Vinhomes along with a number of other companies in fields as diverse as electric cars to universities; Vietcombank; and Vietnam Dairy Products more commonly known as Vinamilk.

Top 5 stocks, January 2024

Source: FTSE Vietnam Index Series

FTSE Frontier Index

The FTSE Frontier Index tracks the least developed global markets. Of note, half of the top 20 constituents on the index were from Vietnam with Vietnam accounting for 36.66 percent of the market capitalization of the index in January of 2024. The next closest country was Morocco covering 14.07 percent.

Note that Vietnam is currently on the FTSE Russel watchlist for a potential upgrade from frontier to secondary emerging. The two key criteria currently holding Vietnam’s biggest exchange back are settlement costs and the time between delivery and payment. 

See also: The Vietnam Stock Exchange: Market Status.

S&P Dow Jones

S&P Dow Jones has a number of indexes that include stocks listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

S&P Frontier Broad Market Index (BMI)

Like FTSE Russel and MSCI, S&P Global maintains an index of frontier markets–the S&P Frontier BMI. As of February 2024, Vietnam had 82 stocks included in the index with a combined market capitalization of US$12.8 billion. This gave Vietnam the second highest weighting on the index accounting for 12.3 percent. It trailed only Argentina at 32 percent.

S&P Vietnam BMI

S&P also maintains the S&P Vietnam BMI. This index contains 82 stocks with the top ten constituents accounting for 51 percent of the total market capitalization. By sector, financials had the biggest weighting with 23.2 percent followed by real estate with 23.1 percent. The top five were rounded out by consumer staples, materials, and industrials rounding out the five with 17.2 percent, 16.5 percent, and 12.4 percent, respectively. This was current as of February 2024.

Top 10 stocks by weight, February 2024

HNX Indexes

The less well-known stock market in Vietnam is the Hanoi Stock Exchange. This deals mostly with bonds but also functions as a stepping stone for companies looking to list on the HoSE through its Unlisted Public Companies Market–UPCom. Trading on the HNX is much more limited than the HoSE but it does still have a couple of key indexes of note.

HNX Index

The HNX Index tracks the value of shares trading on the Hanoi Stock Exchange. It consists of listed stocks that have a free float greater than 5 percent.

HNX 30

Stocks are selected to be included in the HNX 30 based on market capitalization adjusted relative to the transferability of their shares. The HNX 30 has a maximum capitalization rate of 15 percent. Stocks are selected for the HNX 30 based on:

• Average daily trading value;
• Free float market capitalisation;
• Liquidity; and
• The discretion of the Index Council.

Of the stocks that meet the criteria, the top 30 are selected, with a maximum of 20 percent of stocks from any single industry.

What’s next?

Vietnam stock market indices are many and varied. Each gives a unique glimpse into how Vietnam’s stock markets are performing both in isolation and in the context of the wider world. This overview of each of these key indexes should provide a broad understanding of those key indexes and how they are compiled. 

Change, however, with respect to Vietnam’s status as a frontier market, may be afoot. An upgrade to an emerging market would likely lead to a significant change to Vietnam’s stock market indexes and a surge in investment, however, this may still be some time away.

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