Vietnam Insight

The U.K. becomes the first country to reach a trade agreement with the U.S. US stock futures jumped on Monday after the Trump administration announced a breakthrough trade agreement with China, following weekend negotiations in Switzerland. Futures tied to the Dow and S&P 500 rose more than 1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rallied nearly 2%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the two days of talks with Chinese officials in Geneva as “productive,” stating that further details would be shared in a briefing Monday morning. Currently, China faces steep US tariffs of 145%, with Beijing retaliating with a 125% levy on American goods. Despite the progress with China, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick noted that the 10% baseline tariff on other countries is likely to “remain in place for the foreseeable future.” Investors are also eyeing key economic data this week, including US consumer inflation figures on Tuesday, followed by retail sales and producer price index data on Thursday, as they assess the early economic impact of the trade conflict.

Sideway trend. The VN-Index closed the week at 1,267.3 (+41.0 points; +3.34%) with low liquidity. The market's gain was mainly driven by the VIC, VHM, and VRE group, while capital flow into other sectors remained relatively weak. The index has clearly returned to the pre-tariff equilibrium trading zone and moved above the 200-day EMA. However, the main trend remains sideways.

Trading Strategy: Long-term investors may consider disbursing into stocks with solid fundamentals that benefit from domestic internal drivers such as steel, banking, securities, and energy. However, the allocation to stock should be reduced as many stocks have already recovered significantly from their bottom levels.