Financial investment overview February 2023

The financial investment market in February 2023 continued to have many fluctuations. Traditional investment fields such as stocks, gold, foreign exchange, real estate, fund certificates, etc. recorded many changes due to market influences.

Gold and foreign exchange prices tend to increase slightly

According to the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Planning and Investment), the average domestic gold price index in the first two months of 2023 increased by 3.1% compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the USD price index continues to face pressure from the Fed's next interest rate hike.

Specifically, domestically, the average USD price in the free market was around 23,740 VND/USD in February. The USD price index in February 2023 increased by 0.2% compared to the previous month due to guaranteed supply; increased by 3.67% compared to the same period last year. On average, in the first 2 months of 2023, the domestic USD price index increased by 3.42% compared to the same period in 2022.

In the world market, the USD price in February 2023 increased when the Fed announced to raise the reference interest rate to 4.5 - 4.7%.

The increase in foreign exchange rates also affected the price of gold. While the world gold price tended to decrease, in February 2023, the domestic gold price fluctuated in the opposite direction.

Specifically, the gold price index in February 2023 increased by 0.921 TP2T compared to the previous month; increased by 2.621 TP2T compared to the same period last year. On average, in the first 2 months of 2023, the domestic gold price index increased by 3.11 TP2T compared to the same period last year.

World gold prices recovered slightly in the early morning of February 28 (Vietnam time), with spot gold prices increasing by 4 USD to 1,817.3 USD/ounce. Gold futures last traded at 1,824.9 USD/ounce, up 7.8 USD compared to the early morning of the previous day. 

Real estate market difficulties are "resolved"

In the second half of 2022, the tightening of real estate credit has caused the market to fall into a difficult situation and face many challenges. The real estate market has frozen, the number of transactions has decreased dramatically, and many businesses are facing the risk of dissolution.

In most segments, the situation of buying, selling and trading real estate is stagnant. After a series of land fevers, real estate has fallen into a gloomy picture, and many people have even advertised to sell at a loss to save capital.

To address the difficulties facing the real estate market, from mid-February 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the National Online Conference "Removing obstacles and promoting the safe, healthy and sustainable development of the real estate market" with the participation of leaders of the Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Finance, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, as well as many large domestic real estate enterprises. Along with that, recently, the Government has continuously issued many directives to resolve difficulties related to the real estate market, including capital sources, in order to have practical solutions to help the market develop sustainably and healthily.

This has shown the Government's special attention to the real estate industry. This is a positive and hopeful signal for the real estate market in general and real estate businesses in particular to grow again in the midst of difficulties. 

High bank interest rates attract people's money

February 2023 continued to record high interest rates from banks, from 9-10%/year with terms over 12 months. Some banks mobilized up to 11.5%/year. This is also the reason why people increased their deposits in banks.

According to data from the State Bank, as of the end of November 2022, the total deposits of institutional and individual customers at credit institutions reached more than VND 11.5 million billion, an increase of VND 126,938 billion compared to October 2022. Compared to the beginning of the year, the total deposits of the entire system increased by 5.5%, equivalent to an increase of more than VND 607,700 billion. Of which, residential deposits increased by 8.38%, and deposits of economic organizations increased by 2.9%. 

According to forecasts, deposit interest rates will peak in the first 6 months of 2023 with an increase of 1 - 1.5 percentage points. Experts also said that in the medium term, deposit interest rates still have room to increase, so deposit balances at banks will continue to grow well as people continue to put money in.

Investing in stable growth fund certificates

From the beginning of 2023 until now, the fund certificate investment market has recorded stability again, even slight growth.

Recently, the quarterly certificate investment market has always recorded a stable profit rate, from 13 - 15%/year, or even higher. In the early stages of 2023, investment in fund certificates has seen remarkable growth in both domestic and foreign investment funds. This is also a signal that the fund certificate market is recovering and is still a "fertile land" sought after by financial investors.

Investment experts believe that in 2023, the fund certificate investment market will continue to be a popular investment channel for individual investors. In fact, in the coming period, this type of investment will have the potential to "cause a fever" and create spectacular breakthroughs in profits and scale, becoming one of the safest and best investment channels.

Along with the stable growth of the market, a statistical report in early 2023 also showed that the number of domestic and foreign investment funds in Vietnam is also on the rise. This also opens up many opportunities for the form of fund certificate investment to develop and become a more popular investment channel in the near future.

Stock market shows signs of recovery

Similar to the real estate market, Vietnamese stocks in 2022 will continuously face difficulties due to the influence of the market context.

However, in the first months of 2023, especially February 2023, the stock market is showing positive signs of recovery.

As early as January 2023, Vietnamese stocks, as well as global stocks, have made a leap forward. The moves by major central banks to slow down interest rate hikes and the reopening of the Chinese market have raised investors' expectations.

Particularly in the Vietnamese stock market, the trend of capital flow from foreign investors is more positive than expected. At the end of February 2023, the VN-Index increased by 7.31 points. According to expectations, by the end of 2023, the VN-Index will increase by about 15%, the market in 2023 promises to have more positive signals than in 2022 thanks to the Government's proactive and drastic actions to deal with macro challenges.

Above is a summary of the outstanding developments of the financial investment market in February 2023. FUNDGO hopes that the article helps you have an overview of the market as well as make the right investment decisions.