They bought shares worth VND175.03 trillion ($7.55 billion) and sold for VND167.73 trillion ($7.23 billion).

VIC of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup was the most sought-after blue chip by them with a net buying value of VND5.3 trillion ($288.4 million).

The stock with the country’s highest market cap saw a humongous transaction in May when South Korea’s SK group paid around $1 billion for a 6.15 percent stake in Vingroup.

The next most bought ticker was E1VFVN30, an exchange-traded-fund based on the VN30, the basket of Vietnam’s 30 biggest stocks.

It was followed by PLX of state-owned petroleum retailer Petrolimex, VCB of Vietcombank, one of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders, and MSN of food giant Masan Group.

VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air was sold the most by foreign investors, followed by VHM of Vinhomes, the real estate subsidiary of Vingroup, and VNM of Vinamilk, Vietnam’s biggest diary company.

But in Hanoi, which accounts for only 10 percent of the country’s market cap, foreign investors net sold for a third consecutive year to the tune of nearly VND800 billion ($34.5 million).

On the Unlisted Public Companies bourse with less stringent disclosure norms, foreign investors net bought stocks worth over VND1.4 trillion ($60.3 million).

The benchmark VN-Index ended 2019 at 960.99 points, up 7.67 percent for the year, while the HNX-Index shed 1.65 percent.