Stocks increase sharply, Vietnam-Index gently surpasses 1,300 points, why are many investors still "far from shore"?

Despite a sharp drop of 11.81 points in the last session of the week, VN-Index still ended the second consecutive week with strong growth, reaching 1,301.39 points, up a total of 34.09 points (+2.69%) compared to the end of last week.

From the bottom of 1,070 points in early April – when the US announced a reciprocal tax rate of up to 46% on goods from Vietnam – the main index of the market still increased by more than 230 points, equivalent to 21%, creating a surprising V-shaped recovery.

However, most individual investors have yet to recover from the shock. On stock forums, many people admit that they are still suffering heavy losses, due to panic selling and then "staying out" when the market rebounded sharply.

Speaking to a reporter from the Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Tran Quoc Toan, Director of Branch 2 - Headquarters, Mirae Asset Securities Company (MAS), analyzed that although the VN-Index had a strong V-shaped recovery in a short period of time, most individual investors have not yet "returned to shore" after the shock of the tariff information. The reason lies in the lack of spread in the recovery momentum, along with investors' limited portfolio management strategies in the context of uncertain information.

The recovery of the VN-Index mainly comes from a group of pillar stocks. The four stocks belonging to the VinGroup family alone have contributed more than 75 points to the index, while since the beginning of the year, the VN-Index has only increased by less than 43 points (as of mid-May). This shows that many other stocks - especially midcap and penny stocks - are still in a state of weak recovery or sideways movement.

"The market recovered quickly but lacked spread, mainly thanks to a few pillar stocks like VinGroup, not representing the entire market" - Mr. Tran Quoc Toan - Director of Branch 2, Mirae Asset Securities Company - commented.

Chứng khoán tăng mạnh, Việt Nam-Index nhẹ nhàng vượt 1.300 điểm, sao nhiều nhà đầu tư vẫn — Vingroup stocks, most recently Vinpearl's VPL, contributed greatly to the increase in the VN-Index. Source: MAS

In addition to Vingroup stocks, banking stocks also contributed significantly to the increase thanks to expectations from Resolution 68-NQ/TW related to policies to support the private economy . However, the over-reliance on a few pillar stocks makes the VN-Index not fully reflect the health of the market.

Mr. Toan also commented that crowd psychology, lack of clear investment strategy and limited portfolio management plan are factors that make investors easily fall into a state of loss. When the market drops sharply due to unfavorable information, many people rush to sell, then do not have time to return when the market rebounds. Fear and indecision make them miss opportunities in both the down and up directions.

Sharing more about the investment strategy in the current period, Mr. Tran Hoang Son - Director of Market Strategy, VPBankS Securities Company - said that many stocks that fell 30-40% in April have only partially recovered, still negative about 15-20%. According to him, from now until June, the market will continue to recover, but investors need to be patient. For stocks with a large proportion in the portfolio, if after recovery they still cannot increase, they should consider closing the position to restructure.

Mr. Son recommends that investors should focus on industries they understand well, build appropriate risk appetite and have a specific investment strategy, instead of having vague expectations or holding weak stocks for too long.