Vietnam Insight

Shift focus to inflation data. US stock futures were flat on Monday as easing US-China trade tensions offered some relief, with investors turning their focus to major earnings reports and key inflation data later this week. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are set to meet in coming days to help defuse tensions, ahead of a potential meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi later this month. Attention will also center on quarterly results from Netflix, Coca-Cola, Tesla, IBM, and Intel, as the ongoing data blackout from the government shutdown pushes markets to seek corporate signals. Meanwhile, the September CPI report due Friday is expected to show inflation remains elevated. Last week, major indexes swung sharply amid renewed trade worries, stress in regional banks, and profit-taking in AI-related shares.

Uptrend. VNINDEX closed at 1,731.19 (-35.66 points, -2.02%) with higher-than-average 20-session liquidity (or higher liquidity than the 20-session average). The market saw 96 advancing stocks and 236 declining stocks. The stocks contributing the most to the market's gain (or increase) were GEE, VJC, BMP; the stocks contributing to the market's decline (or loss) were VIC, VHM, and VPB. Foreign investors were net sellers (or Foreigners strongly net sold) at 1,963 billion VND.

Trading Strategy: Prioritize a holding strategy and limit new purchases during breakouts. In a positive scenario, if the VN-Index successfully tests and holds the 1,700 level, investors can consider increasing exposure during subsequent pullbacks to ride the upcoming uptrend. If the market retreats to around the 1,600 zone, clearer buying opportunities will emerge — investors may focus allocations on stocks with strong catalysts such as re-rating benefits, robust earnings growth, or valuations that remain lower than the broader market.