HÀ NỘI — On the 25th anniversary of the Vietnamese stock market's founding, the VN-Index continued its upward momentum, setting a new historic high of 1,557 points and surpassing the previous peak of 1,538 recorded in early 2022. The rally was underpinned by broad-based sector gains and strong capital inflows.

At the close of trading on the final Monday of July, the VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) surged 26.29 points, or 1.72 per cent, to end at 1,557.42, well above its previous all-time high.

Market breadth was strongly positive, with 258 stocks advancing and only 81 declining. Liquidity also improved markedly, as trading value rose 24.8 per cent compared to the previous session, reaching VNĐ46.7 trillion (approximately US$1.8 billion), with a trading volume exceeding 1.8 billion shares.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and liquidity, also posted a significant gain, rising 26.3 points, or 1.58 per cent, to 1,695.63. Of the basket’s constituents, 26 advanced, three declined, and one remained unchanged.

Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPB) led the market, climbing 4.37 per cent and contributing nearly two points to the VN-Index. It was followed by Vietcombank (VCB), which rose 1.29 per cent, and Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB), which hit its ceiling price with a 6.98 per cent gain.

Vingroup stocks also had a strong session, with Vinhomes JSC (VHM) up 2.03 per cent, Vingroup Joint Stock Company (VIC) rising 1.31 per cent and VIX Securities Joint Stock Company (VIX) also hitting its ceiling with a 6.86 per cent increase.

Commenting on the market’s performance, Head of Digital Business at VPBank Securities (VPBankS) Nguyễn Việt Đức said valuations remained reasonable. He noted that the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of the VN-Index currently stands at just over 16 times, significantly lower than during previous peaks, approximately 21 times in 2018 and 19 times in 2021–2022.

“If corporate earnings continue to grow by around 15 per cent in the next year as forecast, actual valuations will be even more attractive. Based on this foundation, the VN-Index could target the 1,800–1,900 range in the medium term,” Đức said.

“Looking back over nearly two decades, there have only been five clearly defined and sustained growth periods: 2007–2008, 2009–2010, 2017–2018, 2021–2022 and the current cycle. What distinguishes the present rally is not just its strong point increase, but also the high level of capital flow consensus,” he added.

On the northern bourse, the HNX-Index also posted solid gains, rising 9.23 points, or 3.63 per cent, to 263.79. Trading value on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange reached VNĐ4 trillion, with nearly 200 million shares changing hands. — VNS