January was a good month for Vietnam’s key stock market, the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. The key domestic index, the VN-index, rose by more than 30 points and foreign-traders net bought into the market to the tune of just over US$7 million. On the latter point, though a relatively small amount, this was a marked improvement from 2023 during which foreign traders pulled more than US$1 billion from the local bourse.
That said, as a rolling average, foreign investment in the market was sufficiently down. ‘Expert’ analysis in January suggested this was due to the fact that EU and US markets are performing better and this is drawing capital away from Asian markets, and that government support for stock market investment in Korea and Thailand may have seen investors from these countries move their cash back home.
Perhaps, more interesting in January, however, was the revelation that there was US$3.17 billion sitting in trading accounts waiting to be invested in the stock market. This added some much-needed context to an announcement late last year that from June 30, 2024, trading firms would be prohibited from paying interest on funds in cash accounts. In this context, it looks like this step may have been taken to liberate this hefty sum of funds.
That said, it’s not clear that those funds will necessarily return to the stock market, and for foreign firms, they may even be repatriated adding an additional investment barrier.
All of that said, overall, in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year, as is to be expected, developments in the local market were few and far between. This may, however, be the calm before the storm as necessary reforms and changes, including key economic decisions–a rising US dollar is begging for attention from the State Bank of Vietnam–are delayed until after the Lunar New Year in February.
The VN-index started January at 1,131.72 points and finished out the month at 1,164.31, an increase of 32.59 points.
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VN-Index, historic data, January 2024
| Date | Price | Open | High | Low | Vol. | Change |
| 31 | 1,164.31 | 1,179.65 | 1,182.53 | 1,163.13 | 1.12M | -1.30% |
| 30 | 1,179.65 | 1,175.69 | 1,179.92 | 1,174.13 | 620.15K | 0.34% |
| 29 | 1,175.69 | 1,175.67 | 1,180.46 | 1,174.88 | 666.53K | 0.00% |
| 26 | 1,175.67 | 1,170.37 | 1,176.76 | 1,170.37 | 575.22K | 0.45% |
| 25 | 1,170.37 | 1,172.97 | 1,173.83 | 1,168.50 | 540.54K | -0.22% |
| 24 | 1,172.97 | 1,177.50 | 1,180.30 | 1,172.00 | 733.19K | -0.38% |
| 23 | 1,177.50 | 1,182.86 | 1,184.74 | 1,173.78 | 683.71K | -0.45% |
| 22 | 1,182.86 | 1,181.50 | 1,186.96 | 1,175.54 | 889.76K | 0.12% |
| 19 | 1,181.50 | 1,171.50 | 1,181.50 | 1,171.47 | 662.89K | 1.06% |
| 18 | 1,169.06 | 1,162.53 | 1,169.73 | 1,162.53 | 596.22K | 0.56% |
| 17 | 1,162.53 | 1,161.95 | 1,168.46 | 1,160.45 | 769.80K | -0.05% |
| 16 | 1,163.12 | 1,154.12 | 1,163.12 | 1,147.71 | 611.40K | 0.78% |
| 15 | 1,154.12 | 1,154.70 | 1,163.75 | 1,154.12 | 617.15K | -0.05% |
| 12 | 1,154.70 | 1,162.22 | 1,162.22 | 1,146.75 | 1.09M | -0.65% |
| 11 | 1,162.22 | 1,161.54 | 1,169.10 | 1,157.43 | 860.49K | 0.06% |
| 10 | 1,161.54 | 1,158.59 | 1,166.10 | 1,155.94 | 992.76K | 0.25% |
| 9 | 1,158.59 | 1,160.19 | 1,162.83 | 1,155.46 | 870.51K | -0.14% |
| 8 | 1,160.19 | 1,154.68 | 1,162.56 | 1,154.68 | 905.41K | 0.48% |
| 5 | 1,154.68 | 1,150.72 | 1,155.84 | 1,149.08 | 803.27K | 0.34% |
| 4 | 1,150.72 | 1,145.49 | 1,160.08 | 1,144.32 | 1.18M | 0.57% |
| 3 | 1,144.17 | 1,131.72 | 1,144.17 | 1,128.32 | 719.93K | 1.10% |
| 2 | 1,131.72 | 1,129.93 | 1,139.71 | 1,128.69 | 842.26K | 0.16% |
Foreign investor trades on HoSE, January 2024
| Buy | Sell | Change | ||||
| Date | VND | US$ | VND | US$ | VND | US$ |
| 2/1 | 789 | $32,021,171 | 1,144 | $46,428,668 | -355 | -$14,407,498 |
| 3/1 | 821 | $33,319,875 | 1,027 | $41,680,282 | -206 | -$8,360,407 |
| 4/1 | 1,182 | $47,970,879 | 1,200 | $48,701,400 | -18 | -$730,521 |
| 5/1 | 1,033 | $41,923,789 | 1,456 | $59,091,032 | -423 | -$17,167,244 |
| 8/1 | 1,059 | $42,978,986 | 1,308 | $53,084,526 | -249 | -$10,105,541 |
| 9/1 | 1,337 | $54,261,477 | 1,455 | $59,050,448 | -118 | -$4,788,971 |
| 10/1 | 1,132 | $45,941,654 | 1,348 | $54,707,906 | -216 | -$8,766,252 |
| 11/1 | 1,527 | $61,972,532 | 1,375 | $55,803,688 | 152 | $6,168,844 |
| 12/1 | 1,122 | $45,535,809 | 1,105 | $44,845,873 | 17 | $689,937 |
| 15/1 | 950 | $38,555,275 | 895 | $36,323,128 | 55 | $2,232,148 |
| 16/1 | 1,042 | $42,289,049 | 893 | $36,241,959 | 149 | $6,047,091 |
| 17/1 | 1,418 | $57,548,821 | 1,276 | $51,785,822 | 142 | $5,762,999 |
| 18/1 | 1,149 | $46,631,591 | 1,088 | $44,155,936 | 61 | $2,475,655 |
| 19/1 | 1,380 | $56,006,610 | 1,201 | $48,741,985 | 179 | $7,264,626 |
| 22/1 | 1,748 | $70,941,706 | 1,285 | $52,151,083 | 463 | $18,790,624 |
| 23/1 | 1,932 | $78,409,254 | 1,693 | $68,709,559 | 239 | $9,699,696 |
| 24/1 | 1,532 | $62,175,454 | 1,442 | $58,522,849 | 90 | $3,652,605 |
| 25/1 | 1,009 | $40,949,761 | 1,145 | $46,469,253 | -136 | -$5,519,492 |
| 26/1 | 1,400 | $56,818,300 | 1,159 | $47,037,436 | 241 | $9,780,865 |
| 29/1 | 1,251 | $50,771,210 | 1,390 | $56,412,455 | -139 | -$5,641,246 |
| 30/1 | 1,671 | $67,816,700 | 1,543 | $62,621,884 | 128 | $5,194,816 |
| 31/1 | 1,851 | $75,121,910 | 1,729 | $70,170,601 | 122 | $4,951,309 |
| Total | 28,335 | 1,149,961,808 | 28,157 | 1,142,737,767 | 178 | 7,224,041 |