Vietnam Insight

Highlights:

• Tensions between Iran and Israel continue to escalate, causing commodity prices like oil, gas, and fertilizer to soar.
• The Fed kept interest rates unchanged, signaling two rate cuts this year amid a challenging economic outlook with weak growth, rising unemployment, and escalating prices
• Vietnam's Q2 GDP could reach 7.6%, bringing the 6-month growth to 7.3%. This places Vietnam among the highest growth rates in the region and the world.

Technical View: VN-Index closed the week at 1,349 points (+33.86 points, +2.6%), showing some volatility around its peak. The upward momentum over the past week mainly came from the banking stock group. Overall, the market still lacks a decisive cash flow session to establish an uptrend. Nevertheless, the market has shown positive signals from the banking stock group, suggesting a potential uptrend in the near future. To enter a sustained uptrend, the VN-Index needs a leading stock group that can create a market-wide ripple effect.

Investment Idea: Investors should refrain from initiating new positions in stocks that have already risen sharply, as profit-taking may occur and capital could shift to underperforming stocks trading below the MA200/MA50. For new positions, consider sectors such as real estate, steel, and banking, which are currently at low price bases with established accumulation zones — but keep new allocations conservative.