Illustrative image (Source: Reuters) HCM City (VNA) – The COVID-19 pandemic has had impacts onthe stock market, with all indexes on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange(HOSE) falling sharply in March.
According to HOSE, inthe last trading session of March, the VN-Index reached 662.53 points, down25.77 percent; VNAllshare reached 591.5 points, down 27.72 percent; and the VN30index reached 610.76 points, down 28.57 percent compared to February.
Total trading volumein March reached 5,990 million shares, equivalent to a total trading value of 97.8trillion VND. The average trading value was 4.447 trillion VND (188.72 million USD), and the averagetrading volume was 272 million shares per session, down 7.4 percent in value,but up 7.22 percent in volume compared to the previous month.
The total tradingvalue of foreign investors surpassed 32.6 trillion VND, accounting for 16.7percent of the total buying and selling value of the whole market. Foreigninvestors finished as net sellers of 7.95 trillion VND.
By the end of March31, HOSE had 383 stocks, three closed-end funds (CEFs), three Exchange TradedFunds (ETFs), 62 covered warrants (CWs), and 44 listed bonds. The total numberof listed shares reached 88.91 billion, and the total listed marketcapitalisation was 2.306 quadrillion VND, down 23.54 percent compared to theprevious month.
Amid marketdifficulties, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular 14/2020/TT-BTC amendingand supplementing a number of articles to Circular No.127/2018/TT-BTCregulating service prices in the securities sector applied at the StockExchanges and the Securities Depository Centre to support organizations andindividuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including discounts andexemptions for 15 types of securities services. Immediately after Circular 14came into effect, securities companies reduced and exempted some securitiesservice fees to support customers.
The State SecuritiesCommission also affirmed its support for the market, by shortening theprocessing time for dossiers to purchase treasury stocks to one day, instead ofseven days as before.
Currently, the StateSecurities Commission, Stock Exchanges and securities companies are planning tocope with the COVID-19 pandemic in any scenario, and at the same time implementingsolutions to ensure safe and smooth market operations without affecting theinterests of investors. /.
VNA
