Ben thanh market

HoSE’s raising of standard trading lot to 1,000 could bar small investors

The Saigon Times

An employee monitors stock prices on a computer screen at the Hochiminh City Securities Corporation. HoSE’s plan to raise the standard trading lot to 1,000  shares each could bar small investors – PHOTO: THANH HOA

HCMC – If the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE) proceeds with its plan to raise the minimum volume of shares that can be traded in an order from 100 to 1,000 to address its trading system overload, it could leave huge negative impacts on small investors and prompt many of them to leave the bourse, according to experts and investors in the field.

Thao, the owner of an eatery in HCMC’s Thu Duc City, told VnExpress that she has topped-up VND20 million to her online trading account, which she opened just a couple of days ago and she planned to start trading on the southern bourse today, March 3.

However, last night, she learned that HoSE is weighing extending the size of the standard lot.

She originally wanted to purchase the stocks of four major businesses, namely Vinamilk, The Gioi Di Dong, Vingroup and Novaland. But if HoSE effects the change, she as an inexperienced investor could only buy stocks priced below VND20,000 with the amount of money, or has to have at least VND78 million to buy shares of the real estate developer Novaland or even over VND100 million for each of the other big stocks.

“Such amounts are too huge for new investors like me,” she told the paper.

Commenting on the issue, Dr. Tran Xuan Nam, chairman of Saonam Consulting Company, said that HoSE’s plan was going against a common trend under which the stock market is set to become a platform channeling long- and medium-term capital from the widespread public into the economy.

Nam added that the local stock market could experience a strong sell-off before the plan is executed. Further, the stock market operators would need a long time to regain the trust of and entice investors to rejoin the market.

Earlier, Le Hai Tra, general director of HoSE, shared the plan with the local media, saying that once the plan takes effect, small investors would receive better protection by investing in exchanged traded funds. Also, this would promote the growth of the fund management sector and increase the number of professional investors in line with the Government’s goal.

Further, the change in the standard trading lot could reduce some 50% in the number of trading orders, paving the way for the market turnover to reach higher levels, Tra said.

Small stocks attract cash flow due to HoSE’s plan linked to trading lot

The Saigon Times

A woman walks past a stock quotation board at a securities company in HCMC. Many investors rushed to pour money into small and medium stocks today, March 3 – PHOTO: THANH HOA

HCMC – Many investors rushed to pour money into small and medium stocks, leaving many of them flying high today, March 3, as they seemed to worry about the Hochiminh Stock Exchange’s plan to raise the minimum volume of shares that can be traded in an order from 100 to 1,000 to deal with its system overload.

Among speculative stocks, property group FLC stole the limelight of the market, as it soared to its upper limit and ranked second by liquidity on the southern bourse, with 21.6 million shares changing hands.

Aside from FLC, many other small stocks hit their ceiling prices, such as TSC, SJF, IDI, MCG, HAP. Meanwhile, despite not reaching the upper limits, real estate firm HQC, construction company ROS, and industrial park developer ITA also ended in positive territory and reported high matching volume of 11-15 million shares.

As for largecap stocks, lenders CTG, VPB, HDB, ACB, MSB, steelmaker HPG, and retailer VRE were good performers. Of them, MSB rose a sharp 6.6% to its intraday high. Other strong winners included industrial park developer BCM and real estate developer NVL.

Especially, steelmaker HPG reversed course to end higher and was the most actively traded stock on the southern bourse, with 22.3 million shares transacted.

Overall, the benchmark VN-Index rose 0.34 point, or 0.03% over the session earlier at 1,186.95, with 270 advancers and 168 decliners. Trading volume on the southern bourse improved 9.5% but value remained the same as that of the previous session, at more than 630 million shares and over VND15 trillion. Block deals contributed some VND1.5 trillion to the total value.

On the northern bourse, the HNX-Index expanded 6.16 points, or 2.48% against the previous session at 254.1, with 137 stocks increasing and 66 others dropping.