Vietnam’s stock market is under constant net selling pressure from foreign investors, with a total net selling value of US$3 billion since the beginning of 2024. Does the local stock market still hold appeal for foreign investors? The growing scale of net selling Foreign investors have net sold over VND83.7 trillion (approximately US$3 billion) of shares on the VN-Index as of November 15, marking a record high since the establishment of the Vietnamese stock market. The net selling trend began in 2020, persisted through 2021, briefly reversed in late 2022, but has intensified again throughout 2023 and 2024. The foreign ownership ratio on the VN-Index has fluctuated significantly in recent years. It dropped from 19.18% in early 2020 to 17.37% in 2021, slightly increased to 18.28% in 2022, and has since declined to 16.8% by mid-November 2024, equivalent to around US$14 billion. Foreign investors’ buying and selling trends in 2024 reveal a notable divergence. Capital inflows for net buying are primarily focused on developed markets such as the U.S., Japan, China, and several European countries. Conversely, net selling is predominantly observed in developing markets impacted by geopolitical conflicts. In the ASEAN-5 region, only Indonesia and Malaysia have experienced modest net […]