The number of newly-opened securities accounts in March plunged to the lowest in the past two years, marking the sixth consecutive month the market did not record more than 100,000 new accounts, according to the Viet Nam Securities Depository (VSD).

This number is very low compared to the peak period, which saw between 200,000 and 450,000 accounts opened per month.

Although the rate of opening new accounts has slowed, Viet Nam's stock market still shows great potential with more than seven million securities accounts, equivalent to about 7 per cent of the population. This number far exceeds the target of 5 per cent of the population investing in securities by 2025, under the Government’s scheme to restructure the securities and insurance markets.

However, there will be cases where a person has multiple securities accounts and also there are new accounts opened but have recorded no transactions.

The domestic cash flow in the market still shows signs of returning. This capital inflow actually contributed significantly to the excitement of the market, amid the context that foreign investors are net selling a large amount of money.

According to the SSI Securities JSC, the Vietnamese stock market is showing a fairly strong foundation as it rebounded by 3.9 per cent in March and ended the first quarter with a growth of 5.7 per cent on the VN-Index.

This positive trend is led by measures to address economic difficulties and financial market challenges, as well as positive news of the market.

The market welcomed two interest rate cuts by the State Bank of Viet Nam in mid and late March, which sent a strong message about the need to reduce interest rates to support economic growth. These are seen as highly flexible steps by the Government, given the macro-economic challenges in the first quarter.

According to the SSI, the profits of several listed companies may still not be enough to help them escape the trend of decline compared to the same period last year. It will be a factor that prevents VN-Index from making strong breakthroughs in the short term. — VNS