Because Vietnam hasn't "caught the trend" of AI.

Foreign investors were net sellers amidst the Vietnamese stock market's struggles with finance, banking, and real estate, while the world was buzzing with AI.

Foreign investors engaged in abrupt net selling.

With 16.6% of 2025 already underway, the Vietnamese stock market has attracted attention due to a sudden net selling by foreign investors. This trend was particularly strong in 2024.

On the last trading day of February 2024, the VN-Index closed at 1,305.36 points after a decrease of 2.44 points, equivalent to 0.19%. Along with this, liquidity was relatively low, with only nearly 819 million shares, equivalent to VND 18,662 billion, successfully traded.

While domestic investors have yet to regain their enthusiasm for the market, foreign investors recorded another net selling session, bringing their net selling figure to a record high in the first two months of the year.

Specifically, on February 28 alone, the total volume of shares purchased by foreign investors was 52 million shares, while the volume sold reached 81.4 million shares. Foreign investors net sold 29.4 million shares.

In terms of transaction value, on the last day of February 2025, the total value of foreign investors' purchases reached VND 1,796 billion, while the amount sold reached VND 2,732 billion. Foreign investors net sold VND 936 billion.

Overall, in the first two months of 2025, foreign investors recorded a very large volume of selling. Specifically, from January 1, 2025 to February 28, 2025, the net selling volume of foreign investors reached 300 million shares, equivalent to a transaction value of VND 16,008 billion.

With 16.6% of 2025 already underway, the Vietnamese stock market has attracted attention due to a sudden net selling by foreign investors. (Illustrative image)

The net selling value of VND 16,008 billion is a record high for the first two months of the year. In the same period of 2024, this figure was only nearly VND 2,400 billion. In the same period of early 2023, foreign investors even made net purchases of 120 million shares, equivalent to VND 2,131 billion.

In terms of net selling prices, some of the top-selling stocks includeFPT (2,885 billion VND), VNM (1,410 billion VND), STB (1,195 billion VND), VCB (976 billion VND), FRT (863 billion VND), MSN (859 billion VND), SSI (831 billion VND), MWG (830 billion VND), CTG (801 billion VND),…

Conversely, some of the stocks that saw the highest net buying by foreign investors include: VGC (477 billion VND), GEX (327 billion VND), SHS (303 billion VND), HDB (242 billion VND), TCH (233 billion VND), GVR (227 billion VND),…

It can be seen that foreign investors tend to trade more stocks in the finance, banking, and retail sectors.

AI is a global hot topic.

Analyzing the net selling by foreign investors, Mr. Phan Dung Khanh, Director of Investment Consulting at Maybank Investment Bank, said that this move is not a new phenomenon but has been occurring extensively since 2024.

Specifically, in 2024, although the net selling by foreign investors in the first two months was only "mild" at nearly 2,400 billion VND, overall for the year, foreign investors sold a net of more than 2.4 billion shares, equivalent to 80,130 billion VND (approximately 3.2 billion USD), a sharp increase compared to the net selling value of 19,512 billion VND in 2023.

Mr. Dung Khanh assessed: "A regrettable record in 2024 is the net selling value of foreign investors."

According to Mr. Khanh, there are several reasons for this situation. Firstly, although US interest rates have been lowered, they remain high, and the USDX has increased by more than 100 points. The high USDX has led foreign investors to not only sell net in the Vietnamese market but also in many other markets.

Foreign investors tend to trade more stocks in the finance, banking, and retail sectors. (Illustrative image)

Just before the sharp sell-off at the end of February, according to Reuters, on Wednesday, the US dollar surged further from its 11-week low as investors assessed the strength of the economy and the tariff outlook following recent comments from US President Donald Trump.

However, the good news is that only FII (foreign indirect investment) in the stock market has been withdrawn, while FDI (foreign direct investment) has continued to be a net inflow.

"Another important point is that in major stock markets like the US, technology stocks dominate the AI ​​and semiconductor wave, but in the domestic market, technology stocks are absent, with about 50% of the market capitalization concentrated in financial, banking, and real estate stocks," commented Mr. Dung Khanh.

While the global trend is towards technology and AI, the Vietnamese market remains stuck in banking and real estate. The consequence is that while US stocks surpassed their all-time highs dozens of times last year, the VN-Index took dozens of attempts to reach 1,300 before finally breaking through. This is significantly lower than its peak of over 1,510 points.

Comparing it to the VN-Index, Mr. Khanh gave the example that currently, the VN-Index is only hovering around 1,300 points, while FPT stock, the "giant" of technology stocks, has surpassed its historical peak 42 times over the past year.

Specifically, at the close of the last trading session of 2024, FPT shares stood at VND 152,500/share, an increase of VND 56,400/share, equivalent to 58.6% compared to the end of 2023. As a result, FPT Group's market capitalization increased by VND 96,208 billion (equivalent to USD 3.8 billion).

According to Mr. Khanh, one of the most important factors in attracting foreign capital back to the market is upgrading the market status. If this is achieved, Vietnam can attract a stronger flow of capital, creating a positive ripple effect on domestic investors as well.

According to data from the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC), as of December 31, 2024, foreign investors owned over VND 323,531 billion worth of securities (approximately USD 12.65 billion), accounting for 7.35% of the total value of securities registered at VSDC.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/khoi-ngoai-ban-rong-do-viet-nam-khong-bat-trend-ai-376148.html