The accumulated net sell value of foreign investors by the end of the first quarter was VND12 trillion ($520 million), but that figure has dropped to around $78 million now, according to a report by Hanoi-based brokerage KB Securities Vietnam.

Starting from the second half of last month, some foreign funds have turned net buyers after months of net selling, like U.S.-based VanEck Vectors Vietnam ETF with a net buy value of $9 million, South Korea-based KIM KINDEX Vietnam VN30 ETF and FTSE Vietnam ETF, managed by Germany-based Deutsche Bank, with corresponding values of $7.7 million and $6 million, respectively.

The current net selling value of foreign investors in Vietnam, $78 million, is much smaller compared to other ASEAN countries such as Thailand ($7 billion), Malaysia (nearly $5 billion), Philippines and Indonesia (nearly $2 billion), the report said.

In the near future, foreign investors could increase their buying, especially via exchange-traded funds, as the Vietnamese economy makes its expected recovery, it added.

Some analysts expect that the increased buying value of foreign investors will help boost stock prices in the remaining months of the year even though Vietnam is experiencing a second Covid-19 wave.

In the first quarter of this year, foreign investors sold VND12 trillion worth, or 2 percent, of their assets, the largest amount ever recorded on Vietnamese stock exchanges, as the benchmark VN-Index hit a three-year low on March 30. Analysts estimated that they had lost 29 percent of their investment in the sales.

Tran Truong Manh Hieu, head of market research at Ho Chi Minh City-based brokerage KIS Vietnam Securities Corp, said that the selling trend was part of foreign investors’ withdrawal from emerging markets like Vietnam to pour their money into U.S. and European markets where they have better experience and understanding amid uncertainties caused by the pandemic.