Vietnam Insight

Cautious moves amid heightened global volatility. US stock futures were little changed Friday after Wall Street posted broad gains in the previous session, driven by strength in banks and technology shares. On Thursday, the Dow rose 0.6%, the S&P 500 gained 0.26% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.25%, snapping a two day losing streak for all three benchmarks. Semiconductors led the advance after TSMC jumped 4.4% on strong Q4 earnings and plans to lift 2026 capital spending, reinforcing optimism around artificial intelligence demand. Nvidia climbed 2.1%, AMD rose 1.9%, Applied Materials surged 5.6%, Micron added 1.1% and Broadcom gained 0.9%. Financials also rebounded, with Goldman Sachs up 4.6% and Morgan Stanley rising 5.8%, reversing earlier week declines. Investors remained cautious amid elevated geopolitical tensions involving Iran and Greenland, along with lingering concerns about the Federal Reserve’s independence

A Healthy Correction in an Uptrend. The VNINDEX closed at 1,864.80 (-29.64 points, -1.56%) with higher-than-average trading volume over the past 20 sessions. The market saw 177 gainers and 147 losers. Stocks that hampered the market included VIC, VCB, BID, and VHM (this group dragged the VN-Index down by more than 30 points); the stocks contributing most to the index's rise were HDB, STB, and VNM. Foreign investors net sold 839 billion VND, mainly focusing on MSN, VCI, and SSI.

Trading Strategy: Investors may initiate positions in stocks with solid fundamentals and improving liquidity that have reclaimed their EMA50, such as Securities, Banking, Construction Materials, and Industrial Real Estate... Conversely, for sectors exhibiting weakening capital inflows—such as Residential Real Estate—investors should consider paring back exposure to manage risk if stop-loss levels are triggered.