Vietnam Insight

More oil tankers resume transit through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing crude oil prices below $73. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose on Wednesday as investors awaited Micron Technology’s earnings report, with the memory chip sector continuing to benefit from the global expansion of AI infrastructure. Micron shares gained more than 1% in after-hours trading, while competitor Sandisk added around 1%, recovering slightly after both stocks plunged over 13% during Tuesday’s regular session. Meanwhile, shares of Google parent Alphabet rose roughly 0.5% after S&P Global announced the company would join the 30-stock Dow before trading begins next Monday. In the previous session, the S&P 500 fell 1.44% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.21%, while the Dow lost 0.09%. The selloff was led by AI infrastructure firms, including semiconductor and memory chip makers, as investors grew increasingly concerned that massive AI investments by hyperscalers may generate weaker-than-expected returns.

Accumulating ahead of a breakout. The VN-Index closed the session at 1,869.04 points, up 11.13 points (+0.6%), with trading volume remaining above the 20-session average. Market breadth was negative, with 99 advancers and 210 decliners. The main positive contributors to the index were VIC, LPB, and TCB, while GAS, GVR, and BSR weighed on overall market performance. Foreign investors recorded a strong net buying value of VND 1.732 trillion, led by VIC with net purchases of VND 2.991 trillion.

Trading Strategy: Investors may focus on stocks with sideways consolidation patterns and strong earnings growth rather than concentrating solely on VN-Index fluctuations for medium-term positioning. In the short term, opportunities may emerge in heavily sold off stocks showing signs of recovery, such as insurance, technology, and real estate sectors. Investors should limit the use of margin when the trend is not clearly defined during this period.

Current portfolio: MBB; CTD

Watchlist: HPG, KDH, SSI, Real estate stocks (PDR, NLG, DXG).