The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is taking steps to stabilize market sentiment as fear of the nCoV outbreak is causing the VN-Index going downhill and evaporating billions of US dollars in market capitalization, according to Vu Thi Mai, vice minister of Finance.

Illustrative photo.

The State Securities Commission of Vietnam, the country’s stock market watchdog, supervises the operation of the stock markets daily and strictly penalizes any act of manipulation and providing false information, said Mai at a government’s monthly press briefing on February 5.

With such efforts, Vietnam’s stock market over the last few days has gradually recovered and is bouncing back, Mai asserted.

In the first two trading days after the Lunar New year Holiday on January 30 – 31, 2020, the VN-Index plummeted by nearly 4.54%, partly due to a long break after the holiday and fears of the impacts from the nCoV outbreak.

Mai said the fall in the stock market was common in the region and even lower than some countries detecting the first cases of nCoV infection.

In the last half of January, major stock markets in Asia suffered slump, including Hong Kong with 9.4%, South Korea with 5.8% and Thailand with 5.4%.

However, Mai stated losses in Vietnam’s stock market narrowed at the beginning of February.

The VN-Index shrank by merely 0.8% to 929 in the first two trading days of February, and edged up 0.95 points against the previous day on February 4.

According to Mai, for mid- and long-term solutions, the MoF would continue to perfect legal frameworks and guidance for the Securities Law, which has been approved by the National Assembly and on track to become effective in early 2021.

Moreover, the MoF is expected to restructure the stock market for greater efficiency, Mai continued, saying the move is in line with the proposal to restructure the stock and insurance markets until 2020, with vision to 2025.

Mai said the MoF is committed to ensuring discipline and building trust among investors for stability and sustainable development of the stock market.