Screens show stock prices at Tan Viet Securities Co. The total number of domestic and foreign investors opening new accounts in 2019 dropped from the previous year. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

The number of investors opening new accounts in 2019 fell from the previous year, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD).

The number of new domestic trading accounts was about 187,800, an annual decline of 26 per cent, VSD reported.

The number of foreign investors opening new accounts was more than 3,920, a figure down 32 per cent year on year.

The drop of newly opened trading accounts indicated investors were not confident in the Vietnamese stock market in 2019.

Despite the benchmark VN-Index growing by nearly 8 per cent during the year, trading liquidity dropped sharply.

Average trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange was VND4.13 trillion (US$178 million) per day, down 26 per cent year on year.

Foreign investors net-bought a total of VND6.62 trillion in HoSE-listed companies.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, average trading value was VND408 billion per day, down nearly 48 per cent on-year.

The total market value of the two stock exchanges was nearly VND3.3 quadrillion at the end of 2019. — VNS