Overseas investors were net sellers for some seven consecutive sessions, at a value of VND155.7 billion (US$7.3 million).— File Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— Foreign investors turned to sell off shares after a period of being net buyers, although a draft decision has opened opportunities for them to increase ownership in Vietnamese companies.

Overseas investors were net sellers for some seven consecutive sessions, at a value of VND155.7 billion (US$7.3 million).

Normally, market indexes and domestic investor sentiment falls as foreign investors sell their shares. Interestingly, indexes have gained, as domestic cash poured back into the market.

Further, securities analysts allege that the Vietnamese stock market rallied thanks to the Government's draft decision to allow foreign investors to hold up to 60 per cent in a listed firm, as opposed to the current maximum for overseas ownership being 49 per cent.

However, they also said foreign firms might fear that the US Federal Reserve would taper its monthly $85 billion quantitative easing sooner than expected.

Therefore, foreign investors have created a trend of withdrawing from emerging markets.

The financial information website vietstock.vn showed this trend in Brazil, Indonesia and Russia, where foreign investors have sold heavily since late October.

In addition, the benchmark VN-Index rose almost 7 per cent during the past two months. Meanwhile, foreign investors actively bought shares in September and October, and now is the time for them to see profits.

In the long term, prospects remain positive thanks to the decision to lift the foreign ownership cap.

Templeton Emerging Markets Group and Dragon Capital Group said they had been unable to buy as many shares as they wanted, while PXP Vietnam Asset Management predicted the $45 billion market would extend gains as limits for some companies will be raised to 60 per cent by year-end, according to Bloomberg.com. — VNS