Vietnam Insight

Dow surges to record as Powell hints rate cut. US stocks soared on Friday after Fed Chair Powell signaled the possibility of a September rate cut during his Jackson Hole speech, sparking the strongest cross-asset rally since April. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed 1.5% and 1.9%, respectively, while the Dow Jones surged 846 points to a record intraday high. Speaking at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Symposium, Powell noted that the shifting balance of risks in the economy “may warrant adjusting our policy stance,” while cautioning that inflation pressures remain. Traders quickly ramped up bets on a 25 bps rate cut in September to roughly 91%. 

Technical correction. VNINDEX closed the last session of the week at 1,645 (-42.53 points, -2.52%) with high liquidity. The market had 76 stocks increasing and 275 stocks decreasing. The group of stocks contributing the most to the market's increase was BID, VCB; while VPB and TCB contributed to the market's decrease. Foreign investors net sold about 1,347 billion, focusing on HPG and VPB.

Trading Strategy: The priority strategy is to hold positions and be ready to sell when targets are reached. If the market corrects to the 1,500–1,570 range, investors may consider partial disbursements into stocks with strong earnings and those benefiting from the market-upgrade expectation. However, if institutional inflows do not return at the 1,500–1,570 range, investors should reduce equity exposure to manage risk. We still expect the industrial real estate and retail sectors to offer good buying opportunities as their prices have not risen too much compared to the broader market, while a corrective phase is expected to open new buying opportunities in the securities sector