New stock accounts double the previous peak

Vietnam saw 476,455 new retail stock accounts registered in May, a new record that nearly doubles the previous one.

The figure quadrupled year-on-year even as the market plunged, showing a large number of new investors were joining the market to buy when prices were down.

The May figure nearly doubled that of March when 270,000 accounts were registered, a historic peak at the time.

In the first five months, 1.38 million retail stock accounts were opened, compare to 1.53 million for the whole of last year.

By the end of last month, Vietnam had 5.65 million domestic stock accounts for 5.7 percent of the population.

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index plunged to this year’s bottom on May 16 at 1,172 points. It has risen by 11 percent since.