Margin debt has surged, prompting investors to boldly utilize financial leverage.

After a period of ups and downs, the Vietnamese stock market rebounded in the second quarter with improvements in both index points and liquidity, with liquidity even reaching billions of dollars in some sessions.

The recent improvement in liquidity has been significantly contributed by the return of capital from new investors, especially individual investors. According to data from the Vietnam Securities Depository Center (VSD), in June, domestic investors opened 145,864 new accounts, an increase of more than 45,000 accounts compared to the previous month, the highest level in 10 months since September 2022.

From the beginning of 2023 to the end of June, domestic investors opened a total of more than 2.3 million new accounts. By June 31, 2023, the number of individual investor accounts in Vietnam reached 7.25 million, equivalent to approximately over 7.2% of the population.

In addition, external factors also support liquidity, such as the downward trend in interest rates, policies to alleviate difficulties in the corporate bond and real estate markets, and the maintenance of fundamental macroeconomic and balance-building factors.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has recently implemented three interest rate reductions, with deposit rates now down by 2.5-3 percentage points compared to the beginning of the year. The SBV has also emphasized the need for commercial banks to reduce lending rates to support businesses amidst challenging economic conditions.

Despite the limitations from the earnings outlook of listed companies, the interest rate outlook continues to be a driving force supporting the stock market.

As of June 30, 2023, outstanding loans of securities companies in the market reached approximately VND 143,500 billion, an increase of 20.5% compared to the previous quarter and a 0.9% increase compared to the same period in 2022. Compared to the peak of margin lending, the amount of margin deposits at securities companies at the end of June 2023 was only about VND 41,000 billion lower.

Among the top 10 securities companies with the largest margin lending volume, Mirae Asset Vietnam Securities Joint Stock Company remains the champion for both quarters with VND 13,502 billion, an increase of 10.6% compared to Q2/2022.

In second place is SSI Securities, with outstanding margin lending reaching VND 13,104 billion, a slight decrease of 10% compared to the same period last year.

However, VPS Securities rose from sixth place to fourth, reaching a margin lending volume of VND 10,220 billion, a sharp increase of 16.8%, despite leading in brokerage market share across all three exchanges.

Meanwhile, Techcombank Securities (TCBS) recorded outstanding loans of 9,809 billion VND, a decrease of 30% compared to the previous quarter. Many other companies also recorded a decrease in margin loan balances in Q2/2023 compared to the previous quarter, such as VNDirect Securities (down 20%), Ho Chi Minh City Securities (down 21%), VIETCAP Securities (down 16%),...

Among the top 10 companies with the largest loan balances, only VPS Securities and KIS Securities recorded a rapid increase in margin lending compared to the high base level during the same period .

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