Vietnam Insight

Global markets mostly declined, oil prices edged higher. US stock futures rose on Monday following reports that Washington and Tehran have agreed to halt attacks against each other before peace talks resume in Doha this week. The conflict had escalated since Thursday, with Iran targeting a container ship, a vessel carrying Qatari oil, and military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, triggering multiple retaliatory US strikes. Meanwhile, Wall Street is coming off a mixed week as investors rotated out of technology stocks and into other sectors. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.95% and 4.6%, respectively, last week, while the Dow gained 0.6%. Megacap technology stocks led the declines, with Nvidia and Alphabet each dropping more than 8%, while Apple, Amazon, and Meta lost over 4% apiece. SpaceX also plunged 17%, erasing nearly all of its gains since its market debut on June 12.

Accumulating ahead of a breakout. The VN-Index closed at 1,871.91 points, up 8.84 points (+0.47%), while trading volume remained below the 20-session average. The market recorded 128 advancers and 198 decliners.The index's gains were primarily driven by VIC, VHM, and VCB, whereas LPB, GVR, and BSR were the main drags on the market. Foreign investors were net buyers of VND 330 billion, with the largest net purchases concentrated in VHM, VIC, and POW.

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)