New securities trading accounts reach record high

The figure broke the record of 86,017 set in January, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD).

The stock market saw nearly 258,000 new trading accounts opened in the first quarter, accounting for 65 percent of the figure recorded in 2020 as a whole. This took the total number of accounts to nearly 3.02 million as of last month, equivalent to 2.8 percent of Vietnam's population.

The SSI Securities Corporation said Vietnam’s stock market has experienced a special quarter, reaching the 1,200-point threshold three times.

The market had suffered its sharpest decline in history on January 28 as a result of panic selling after new community transmissions of Covid-19 were reported. The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell 73.23 points, or 6.67 percent, to close at 1,023.94 points.

However, the market quickly recovered to 1,191.44 points by the end of the March 31, increasing 7.93 percent from the beginning of the year.

With most banks capping deposit interest rates at around 5.6 percent, compared to 7 percent in early 2020, investors have turned to securities as a better income generating alternative.

With the stock market booming, individual investors are flocking to open trading accounts, many without any previous experience.

The government targets having 3 percent of the population participating in equity markets by the end of this year and 5 percent by 2025 under its Scheme for Restructuring Securities and Insurance Markets, which it finalized in early 2019.