Vietnam's stock market outperforms ASEAN rivals

By August 1, 2016 | 12:24 am PT

VN Index, Vietnam's main stock market, is aiming to become one of the top five in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam's benchmark VN Index has been one of the fastest growing markets in Southeast Asia so far this year, according to the State Securities Commission (SSC).

The SSC said the index has outperformed other Southeast Asian markets to become the fastest growing market in the region in 2016.

The stock market watchdog also said the Ho Chi Minh City exchange will break into the top five biggest stock markets in the region by 2020, with market capitalization of 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and average daily trading value at $250 million.

Statistics show the benchmark index climbed to an eight year high last month, and market capitalization on the country’s main bourse hit its highest level in six years.

The VN Index soared to 649.87 points on July 22, up 12.2 percent from the end of last year. The market capitalization of the country's main stock market on the same trading day rose to VND1,300 trillion ($58 billion), equivalent to 28 percent of Vietnam’s GDP.

Figures show that market liquidity remained high in the first seven months of the year with average trading value of VND6.1 trillion per day, up 24 percent from the annual average last year.

Meanwhile, Vietnam raised an estimated VND211 trillion via bond sales on the Hanoi-based HN-Index in the first half of the year, official statistics show.

The stock market will receive a boost from the country's efforts to accelerate share sales in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that began in the 1990s as the government seeks to spur economic growth to 6.7 percent this year.

According to the SSC, 51 state-owned firms made initial public offerings in the first six months of the year. Government share sales in these companies brought in VND4.5 trillion, up 69 percent from the first half of last year.

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