Middle-cap stocks Vietnam's best in 2023

The VN30 basket, comprised of the country’s 30 largest stocks, closed the year with a 12% gain, compared to a 33% surge in middle-cap and 30% in small-cap stocks, according to global trading data platform Investing. VN-Index also increased 12% in 2023.

Securities, steel, construction, chemicals and information technology were the sectors that posted the strongest gains, of between 35% and 78%, according to Vietnam’s financial data platform Fiintrade.

On the main bourse, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), VIX from VIX Securities Jsc closed the year at VND17,000, nearly triple where it started.

The surge came after the company posted VND715 billion in pre-tax profit in the first six months, surpassing its target for the year.

Of the top 10 best-performing stocks on the HoSE, half were from securities companies.

Apart from VIX, BSI (BIDV Securities), FTS (FPT Securities), VDS (Viet Dragon) Securities and CTS (Vietinbank Securities) also posted strong gains.

Expectations of a new trading system provided by the Korea Exchange, which allows within-day trading, helped boost securities stocks even though it failed to launch on time.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), VE4 from VNECO4 Electricity Construction surged 231% to VND288,000, even though the ticker was restricted at the end of March due to losses.

Another notable gain was CMS from construction firm CMH Vietnam Group. It jumped 470% in the first nine months but closed the year 190% higher at VND19,100.

The Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), which was established to encourage companies to list, saw VSF from Vietnam Southern Food Corp surge 800%. It closed the year at VND38,700.

This ticker was also put under restriction in March due to consecutive losses since 2013. It went flat until August when it rose 300% in just two weeks as Vietnam’s rice price climbed to new heights.