VPB Leads Proprietary Desk Net Buying as Foreign Investors Sell VND 615B

Overview

Securities firms’ proprietary trading desks net bought VND 145 billion on HOSE in the Monday session, with VPBank (VPB) accounting for VND 223 billion of net buying, the largest single-name position. The same session saw foreign investors net sell roughly VND 615 billion across the market, leaving the VN-Index down 14.11 points, or 0.81%, at 1,720.98.

Key Facts

• Proprietary desks net bought VND 145 billion on HOSE in the Monday session.
• VPB led net buying at VND 223 billion, followed by FRT (VND 53 billion), HPG (VND 38 billion), FUESSVFL (VND 32 billion) and VCB (VND 23 billion).
• Other net buys included MWG (VND 18 billion), PVT (VND 17 billion), FUEVFVND (VND 13 billion), HAH (VND 12 billion) and SHB (VND 8 billion).
• TCB saw the heaviest proprietary net selling at VND 85 billion, ahead of NVL (VND 35 billion), VHM (VND 34 billion), MCH (VND 29 billion) and CTG (VND 21 billion).
• Additional net sells: HDB (VND 20 billion), NT2 (VND 17 billion), VIB (VND 14 billion), VIC (VND 11 billion) and STB (VND 9 billion).
• Foreign investors net sold approximately VND 615 billion of equities market-wide, equivalent to about USD 24.6 million.
• The VN-Index closed at 1,720.98, down 14.11 points or 0.81%, after a low-liquidity morning recovery gave way to afternoon selling pressure.

What Happened

Trading on HOSE opened the week of 12 October on a weak footing. The index recovered modestly in the morning session on very thin liquidity, then came under renewed selling pressure in the afternoon and finished at 1,720.98, a decline of 14.11 points or 0.81%. The session’s flow data, reported from exchange trading statistics, showed proprietary desks at securities companies running a net long of VND 145 billion on HOSE.

That net long was concentrated rather than broad. VPB alone drew VND 223 billion in net proprietary buying, more than the entire HOSE net figure, meaning other names in aggregate were net sold by the desks. TCB was the mirror image, with VND 85 billion net sold, followed by real estate names NVL and VHM at VND 35 billion and VND 34 billion respectively. Foreign investors were net sellers of roughly VND 615 billion across the market, so the proprietary bid on VPB and a handful of other names ran against the dominant offshore flow.

Market Context

VPB trades on HOSE and closed the 12 October session at 24,400. The stock sits within the banking sector, which alongside real estate, steel, retail and logistics accounted for the names appearing on both sides of the proprietary flow table. The session’s pattern, foreign net selling against selective domestic proprietary buying, is consistent with a market where index-level direction and single-name positioning have diverged. TCB closed at 32,600, VHM at 63,900 and NVL at 11,150 on the same date.

Strategic Significance

For long-term investors, the relevant signal is not the size of a single session’s proprietary book but where domestic institutional conviction is concentrating while offshore money exits. A VND 223 billion net buy in VPB, against net selling in TCB and in the real estate complex, suggests proprietary desks are differentiating within Vietnamese banking rather than treating the sector as one trade. That distinction matters because bank valuations, asset-quality trajectories and foreign-ownership headroom differ materially across HOSE-listed lenders. The counterweight is that proprietary desks are trading books, not strategic holders, and their positions can reverse within days.

What to Watch

• Whether VPB proprietary net buying persists across the following sessions or proves to be a single-day position.
• Foreign net flow totals on HOSE for the remainder of the week, to see if the VND 615 billion outflow accelerates or reverses.
• Any VPB disclosure on foreign-ownership room or block trade activity, given the divergence between offshore and domestic flow.
• Continued proprietary net selling in TCB, NVL and VHM, which would confirm rotation out of those names rather than a market-wide de-risking.
• VN-Index behaviour around the 1,720 level, and whether low morning liquidity continues to precede afternoon selling.