On August 20th, the stock market continued its strong upward trend for the third consecutive session, with a stronger inflow of capital compared to the previous session. Several key stocks, including those in the "Vin group" owned by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong and the banking sector, performed positively.

Strong buying pressure towards the end of the session helped the market achieve an impressive gain.

At the close of trading on August 20th, the VN-Index rose 10.93 points (equivalent to a 0.87% increase) to 1,272.55 points. The HNX-Index increased by 0.55%, while the Upcom-Index rose by 0.41%. Trading volume increased to over 19,000 billion VND on the HoSE, over 1,300 billion VND on the HNX, and over 676 billion VND on the Upcom.

The market surged primarily thanks to the real estate sector, with some stocks hitting their upper limit, while many others saw significant gains.

The Vin group of stocks owned by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong saw significant gains. Vingroup (VIC) increased by 550 VND to 41,700 VND/share; Vinhomes (VHM) increased by 800 VND to 39,400 VND/share; and Vincom Retail (VRE) increased by 450 VND to 18,750 VND/share.

Meanwhile, Phat Dat Real Estate (PDR) hit its ceiling price, increasing by 1,300 VND to 20,450 VND/share. Dat Xanh (DXG) also increased by the maximum allowed limit of 1,000 VND to 15,600 VND/share. Hai Phat Investment (HPX) also hit its ceiling price, increasing by 370 VND to 5,740 VND/share.

Novaland (NLV), owned by Mr. Bui Thanh Nhon, increased by 600 VND to 12,700 VND/share. DIC Corp. (DIG) increased by 1,350 VND to 25,050 VND/share. Saigon Real Estate (SGR) hit the ceiling price, increasing by 2,000 VND to 30,900 VND/share…

The number of green stocks overwhelmingly outnumbered the red stocks on the exchange.

The banking and financial sector stocks also performed positively. VNDirect Securities (VND) increased by 600 dong to 15,550 dong/share. BIDV Bank (BID) increased by 1,250 dong to 49,150 dong/share. Vietinbank (CTG) increased by 550 dong to 33,200 dong/share…

Net buying by foreign investors is also a positive sign. On August 20th, foreign investors made net purchases of nearly 330 billion VND, with a strong focus on acquiring VCB shares of Vietcombank. FPT, Mobile World Group (MWG), Novaland, and Phu My Fertilizer (DPM) were also among the stocks favored by foreign investors.

Conversely, Vinhomes, GAS, and HDBank (HDB) also experienced significant selling pressure.

Investors did not buy a large net amount of real estate stocks, but instead focused on a number of stocks in banking, securities, retail, technology, and oil and gas.

The market rose amid continued strong gains in global stock markets, with US stocks rising for the eighth consecutive session. The USD/VND exchange rate cooled down. The real estate market is booming in some areas, including the outskirts of Hanoi.

By the afternoon of August 20th, the USD/VND exchange rate had fallen sharply to 25,080 VND/USD (USD selling price at Vietcombank) compared to 25,250 VND/USD on August 16th and 25,485 VND/USD at the end of April. The USD also fell sharply in the international market, with the DXY index dropping to 101.84 points, compared to 102.9 points on August 16th and 106.25 points at the end of April.

The central exchange rate was lowered by 10 dong by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to 24,251 VND/USD on the morning of August 20.

In the banking market, the upward trend in savings interest rates has slowed down. Some banks have reversed course and adjusted deposit interest rates downwards. This also signals that the flow of money into the banking sector may decrease.

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Real estate stocks continued to surge. Photo: FPTS

What are the prospects for real estate stocks?

It can be seen that the stock market's rebound in the last three sessions has been positively contributed by the real estate sector.

According to VNDirect, real estate was one of the most disappointing sectors in the first half of 2024, continuously hitting new lows despite positive policy changes.

In the first half of the year, cash flow showed little interest in the real estate sector. Consequently, stocks in this sector underwent a correction for several months, with some stocks experiencing sharp declines such as Novaland, Dat Xanh, CEO, and DIG… Only a few companies maintained strong sales performance, with compelling stories such as successful corporate restructuring and good growth potential thanks to the advantage of accelerating land clearance for projects and completing land use fee payments according to the government's old land price framework, thus maintaining good profit margins in the coming period, such as NLG and KDH,… thus holding their prices.

In fact, the real estate sector typically experiences unfavorable business results in the first half of the year.

After a period of sharp decline, there are signs of capital flowing into this sector to buy at the bottom and anticipate more positive business results in the second half of the year. This is also the time when many businesses accelerate the handover of houses to customers.

Currently, Vinhomes is focusing on handing over products at the Ocean Park 3, Sky Park, and Golden Avenue projects. Meanwhile, Nam Long has Akari and Southgate, and Khang Dien has The Privia…

According to VNDirect, it will take more time for supportive policies and new real estate-related laws to have a positive impact on investor sentiment in the stock market. This is because the new laws will, in the short term, have mixed effects on the real estate market.

In particular, some localities are starting to apply new land price lists (with the risk of land prices increasing significantly compared to the current prices applied to match market prices), which will create additional financial pressure on businesses and make it difficult for housing prices to cool down.

On the other hand, regulations that are more favorable to homebuyers, such as requiring developers not to collect deposits exceeding 5%, and expanding the scope of home ownership rights for foreigners, will support the psychology of homebuyers.

Therefore, according to VNDirect, overall, it is difficult to expect a strong surge in the real estate sector in the second half of this year. Instead, the recovery trend will be slow and gradually become clearer as the market witnesses improvements in the business and financial performance of companies.

Investment opportunities in real estate stocks will be diversified. Companies that have proven in the past to have good project implementation capabilities, projects with complete legal documentation, successful sales in the past (as shown by presales), and sound financial situations with low leverage will be potential investment opportunities during this period.

Real estate and securities stocks surge, pushing VN-Index up nearly 30 points . The stock market unexpectedly became vibrant again with strong demand right from the morning session, spreading widely across the board. Liquidity surged, and the VN-Index jumped nearly 30 points to over 1,250 points. Real estate and securities stocks saw significant gains.