Despite reaching new highs, foreign investors have been selling Vietnam stocks all year. Part of the cause appears to be competition from popular retail equities like <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/investors-discarding-vietnam-stocks-for-tesla-crypto/">Tesla</a> Inc. and cryptocurrencies.

According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, Korean retail investors, who accounted for 16 percent of net foreign inflows between 2017 and 2019, are among those selling out, dumping a net $166 million worth of shares so far this year. Their risk appetite has migrated from emerging countries to the United States, owing to excellent returns in speculative assets there, according to analysts.

<em> “Bitcoin and US stocks, especially tech growth stocks, showed big swings,” said Lee Soyeon, a market strategist at Korea Investment &amp; Securities Co. “So investors were attracted to them, rather than Vietnam. Stock transactions are a little complicated and returns have lagged.”</em>

Despite the benchmark VN Index's 33 percent increase outflows have occurred in all but one month this year.

<em>“A lot of the foreign selling is simply profit-taking,” said Stephen McKeever, head of the institutional client division at Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corp. “The market has performed strongly and some investors have cashed out,” with Korean retail investors switching their attention to US tech stocks such as Tesla, he added.</em>

Tesla and Bitcoin to Blame for Exodus From Vietnam’s Stocks

Despite reaching new highs, foreign investors have been selling Vietnam stocks all year.

Prabhjeet Bhatla is a cryptocurrency writer covering startups and a researcher since 2020. She has authored many articles for Entrepreneur India and APAC (digital and print) on cryptocurrency and ever-evolving Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies. She specializes in applied cryptography, privacy-enhanced information storage systems, anonymous cryptocurrencies, elliptic curve crypto-systems, and satellite television piracy.

Tesla and Bitcoin to Blame for Exodus From Vietnam’s Stocks

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