Who invested in the Vietnamese stock market during its record-breaking trading session?

Proprietary trading by securities companies drove buying in the session that set a new liquidity record of 71.763 trillion VND, while domestic individuals and foreign organizations were net sellers.

During yesterday's sharp correction, the Vietnamese stock market set a new record for both trading volume and value, reaching 2.79 billion shares and 71.763 trillion VND respectively. These figures are 1.5 times higher than the previous records set just a day earlier.

According to data from Guotai Junan Securities Vietnam, domestic individual investors accounted for about half of the total market disbursement, equivalent to 34.440 trillion VND. However, in terms of net value, individuals withdrew 252 billion VND from the market, indicating they sold more than they bought.

Foreign organizations exhibited a similar trading pattern. They withdrew capital for the 4th consecutive session, with net selling of approximately 1.145 trillion VND.

The shares sold by these two groups were mainly absorbed by domestic institutions, including securities companies. Specifically, domestic institutions disbursed 31.731 trillion VND while selling around 30.550 trillion VND. The net injection was therefore about 1.217 trillion VND, marking the highest buying session since the end of 3/2025.

Foreign individuals also poured more money into the stock market during the deep correction. However, they only accounted for a small proportion of the total trading value.

Le Tran Khang, a senior analyst at Phu Hung Securities (PHS), identified proprietary trading by securities companies as the most noteworthy investor activity during yesterday's session. They may be taking advantage of the lower prices to rebalance their portfolios, offsetting previous sell-offs.

"The market is being driven by domestic investors, both individuals and institutions. Proprietary trading plays a flexible supporting role for market trends, while foreign investors create short-term pressure", Khang told VnExpress.

According to most securities companies, in the short term, a sudden surge in liquidity during declining sessions following a period of rapid growth is not a positive signal. This reflects that sellers are currently in control and profit-taking activities may continue.

"The VN-Index just fell 4.11% due to strong and widespread selling. Selling pressure across all market capitalization segments will contribute to increased downward momentum in the next trading session", commented Le Hai Dang, a research and analysis specialist at Vietcap Securities.

Many analysts suggest that short-term investors should not rush to participate as selling pressure shows no signs of abating. The T+ (short-term trading) strategy, according to a Vietcap analyst, is not suitable during a period when the market has just experienced a sharp sell-off.

Investors are advised to wait for the market to retest key technical levels around 1,460-1,470 points, a further 30-point drop from the current level. Selling pressure may then ease, and speculative capital will return more clearly to leading sectors sensitive to market fluctuations such as banking, securities, and real estate.

Looking ahead, PHS experts believe domestic individual investors will be the main driving force as they become increasingly active and can quickly move money from savings to stocks.

For foreign investors, capital flow remains focused on large transactions, mainly through block trades. This group is on a net selling trend due to concerns about global volatility and capital rotation back to developed markets. However, they may return to net buying when the market stabilizes.

According to Do Minh Trang, Director of the Analysis Center at ACB Securities, the market's liquidity explosion stemmed entirely from profit-taking after a period of rapid growth, not from any negative news. Selling pressure may continue, but the likelihood of further surges in trading value is not high.

"I predict that the cash flow will not be as strong as yesterday. Instead, in the coming sessions and throughout August, the average value per session will fluctuate around 30.000 trillion VND," Trang said.

Trang leans towards a scenario where the market continues to correct quickly and deeply in the coming sessions but then recovers in a V-shape to surpass the 1,557-point peak. The current correction is considered a good opportunity to accumulate stocks in the medium and long term.