Vietnam’s stock capitalization rockets to $132 billion

Vietnam’s total stock market capitalization in the first 10 months reached $132 billion, up 83 percent from the end of last year and equal to 61 percent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product, the National Financial Supervisory Commission reported on Wednesday.

During the first 10 months, the benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange increased by 20 percent from the last day of trading last year.

Notably, on Wednesday, the VN-Index closed at 859.7 points, marking a 10-year high.

On the bond market, funding raised from government bonds also witnessed an improvement. In October, the State Treasury of Vietnam issued $307 million worth of government bonds, an on-month increase of 41 percent.

According to the commission, demand for short-term government bonds (five-year and seven-year terms) increased, but demand for long-term bonds (more than 10-year terms) declined.

As of October, the State Treasury had completed 85 percent of its bond issuance target for 2017, which has been set at $8.03 billion.