Vietnam Insight

Sentiment was supported by soft September PCE inflation data. US stock futures were steady on Thursday after another winning session on Wall Street driven by expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week. In Wednesday’s regular session, the Dow jumped 0.86%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% and 0.17%. Sentiment improved after softer-than-expected ADP data showed a surprise 32,000 drop in private payrolls, pushing Fed cut odds close to a certainty. In extended trading, Salesforce climbed 2% after issuing a stronger revenue outlook. Discount retailer Five Below gained nearly 2% on solid quarterly results, while Snowflake sank more than 7% after the AI cloud provider reported earnings losses. Investors now turn their attention to earnings reports from Dollar General, DocuSign and HP, among others, on Thursday.

Testing the upper bound of the 1,600–1,700 sideways range. VNINDEX closed at 1,741.32 (+4.08 points, +0.23%) with liquidity flatlining near the 20-day average. The market saw 101 rising stocks and 211 declining stocks. The stock group contributing the most to the index's gain were VIC, VHM, and VPL; the stock group hindering the market were TCB, LPB, and MBB. Foreign investors were net sellers with a value of 605 billion VND.

Trading Strategy: Trading-oriented investors may monitor market reactions around the 1,650–1,700 region. If corrective sessions do not push the index back into the previous sideways channel, this could provide an opportunity to re-enter.Medium- to long-term investors can start accumulating selectively in sectors with solid earnings and attractive valuations, such as banking, financials, and construction materials,... 

Buy Recommendation: PET