Not out of the general trend of the global picture, the Vietnamese stock market has been and is being greatly affected by countervailing tariff policies and foreign capital has not shown any signs of returning.
In the context of strong fluctuations in the general market, foreign investors also traded less positively and maintained a strong net selling state almost throughout the first 4 months of the year, except for only more than 10 net buying sessions.
Since the beginning of 2025, the total net selling value of this group has been approximately VND 42,000 billion, equivalent to more than 1.6 billion USD. Selling pressure from foreign investors is increasing in the context of the stock market maintaining stability, improved liquidity and many industry groups having positive business results. If compared to 2024, the record net selling reached more than VND 92,000 billion, then in just the first 4 months of 2025, the net selling value reached nearly half of that figure.
The large stock of the technology group, FPT, leads the portfolio with strong net selling with a value of VND 8,662 billion, equivalent to a net selling volume of more than 67 million units. In the next position was another pair of bluechips, including VIC, which was net sold for VND 5,550 billion and VNM, which was net sold for more than VND 3,330 billion.
Meanwhile, the stock that was net bought the most in the first 4 months of the year belonged to the securities group, and was also the only stock that the group disbursed a trillion VND. Specifically, VCI was net bought for approximately VND 1,382 billion, equivalent to a net purchase volume of 36.2 million units.
According to analysts, the global macro situation is unpredictable and is likely to be the cause of affecting foreign capital flow decisions. The most concerned risk this year is still tariffs. If this story is clearer, everything will be simple, because the stock market hates lack of information and uncertain factors. When the information is released, foreign investors are likely to stop selling, and domestic investment funds will also buy more strongly.
According to Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuong - Strategic Investment Director of DG Capital, strong net selling pressure has caused the ownership ratio of foreign investors to be below 15%, of which 90% are strategic investment funds holding long-term stocks, without regular trading needs. The rest belongs to financial investment funds, ETFs are still traded regularly. Therefore, foreign investors may continue to sell net but the pressure will not be as strong as in 2024.
This expert predicts that foreign investors may return to the Vietnamese market from June 2025. The key is the story from 5.5 when the new information technology system (KRX) will officially come into operation. This is considered a major turning point that helps the Vietnamese stock market approach international trading standards, thereby improving transparency and attractiveness to foreign capital flows.
In addition, the State Securities Commission is also actively working with rating organizations to remove remaining bottlenecks in the market upgrade roadmap. When shifted from a frontier market to an emerging market, Vietnam can attract billions of USD from passive and active index funds. This is a factor that has created strong push-ups for many countries in the past.
