M&A activities in the banking sector are set to heat up in 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic is fully contained and the majority of Vietnamese banks have completed their restructuring processes.

The VN-Index edged up 2% month-on-month in October to finish at 925.47 and was among the best-performers in the world.

The average liquidity for a trading session in the first half of 2020 rose 24% year-on-year to VND5.8 trillion (US$250 million).

The recent uptick of the market, however, is not sustainable, when the margin outstanding may have increased sharply along with the rise.

Being allowed to short sell and trade at T+0 will help Vietnam improve evaluation criteria under global providers of financial services such as FTSE Russell and MSCI.

The reducing and waiver of securities services fees would last until June 30, 2021.

This marked the sharpest drop among stock markets globally during today’s trading session.

Vietnam’s stock market has been the platform to help firms like Vietcombank, Vinamilk and Vingroup, expand to regional and global stages.

The VN-Index's rally stemmed from strong participation of domestic investors and lower selling pressure from foreign players.