Vietnam Insight

Highlights:

Vietcombank Chairman: From now until year-end, there will be no further interest-rate race.

At the Vietnam - South Korea Economic Forum held in Hanoi on the afternoon of April 23 under the theme “Enhancing industrial, investment, and science-technology partnerships,” 73 cooperation agreements were signed between ministries, agencies, localities, and enterprises from both sides.

The Government will issue a decree next week to raise the taxable revenue threshold for household businesses from VND 500 million to VND 1 billion, according to Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.

According to Reuters, the Fed is likely to keep the overnight interest rate in the 3.5–3.75% range, a level that has remained unchanged since last December.

Assessment: The market continues to maintain its structure, mainly supported by the VIC group, which helps beautify the headline index. Some domestic macro data last week showed improvement, leading us to expect the market to become more active next week. Investors should prioritize stocks with strong Q1 earnings growth amid the ongoing AGM season.

Technical view: VN-Index closed the week at 1,854.1 (+0.81 points; +0.04%) on the weekly chart, with low liquidity. The upcoming trading week will be shortened due to holidays on Monday, Thursday, and Friday. The market moved within a narrow range near the psychological resistance level of 1,900. Market breadth remained weak, as the recent rally was mainly driven by the VIC group.

Investment idea: Investors may increase equity exposure compared with last week, while prioritizing stocks trading at low price zones with expectations of strong Q1 earnings growth, such as banks with high credit growth quotas and positive catalysts, low-valuation real estate stocks, and steel stocks.