HÀ NỘI – Market trading liquidity of the derivatives market reached a record high in February since it started operating in August 2017, according to the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX).

The average trading volume of the market reached 28,122 futures contracts per session, worth nearly VNĐ3 trillion (US$133.3 million), the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on Saturday.

The trading figures were up 51.37 per cent and 51.04 per cent, respectively, compared to the recorded numbers in January and they were the highest trading data since the derivatives market opened seven months ago.

In February, although there were only 15 trading days due to the long Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, which took place on February 14-20, the total trading volume still reached 421,824 contracts with the total par value of VNĐ44.67 trillion.

Those figures posted a monthly increase of 3.21 per cent and 2.98 per cent over January, respectively.

The open market volume increased by 5.19 per cent over the previous month and by the end of last Wednesday, the open market volume of the whole market reached 11,461 contracts, reaching the highest figure since the launch of the derivatives market.

According to HNX, the increase of the open market volume showed that investors were highly interested in derivatives products, pouring more money into the market.

The increasing investor interest in the derivatives market was proved by the growth of trading account numbers, which rose 9.51 per cent month on month to 21,819 accounts in February.

However, individual domestic investors were dominant on the market with 97.87 per cent of trading orders being carried out by them, while trading of domestic institutional investors accounted for only 0.16 per cent of the total trading volume.

Among securities companies, proprietary trading volume accounted for 1.75 per cent of the market total trading volume, lower than January.

Foreign investors’ trading volume in February increased 2.3 times compared to the previous month, reaching 1,842 futures contracts and accounting for 0.22 per cent of the market total number.

According to the HNX, the derivatives market had proved its role as an effective investment channel and a hedge of risk, helping stabilise investor sentiment when the base market was highly volatile.

During the two trading sessions on February 5 and 6, when the VN-Index decreased more than 93 points, trading of the derivatives market was quite active.

The market trading volume on February 6 set a new record with 39,311 contracts being traded, valued at VNĐ3.92 trillion.

According to HNX, the derivatives code VN30F1802 expired on February 13 and it was replaced by the code VN30F1804 on February 22. The new derivatives code would mature in April.

At the end of February, there were 4 contracts traded, namely VN30F1803, VN30F1804, VN30F1806 and VN30F1809.

After seven months of operation, the derivatives market has been working properly, the HNX said.

The trading and clearing systems have operated smoothly, stably and secure without any errors. Meanwhile, the market information system has worked well, making the market information displayed on the website of the HNX accurate, timely and meeting the needs of the market. – VNS