Vietnam Insight

Stable oil prices, mixed global markets. US stock futures edged higher on Thursday after the major indexes finished mixed in the previous session, as investors turned their attention to another round of corporate earnings. Markets are awaiting results from major companies including ConocoPhillips, Airbnb, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Traders will also be watching SpaceX, with insider lock-up restrictions set to expire today, allowing major shareholders to sell part of their holdings in Elon Musk’s rocket company. On Wednesday, SpaceX plunged nearly 14% after reporting a sharp rise in capital expenditures, fueling concerns about heavy artificial intelligence-related spending. Meanwhile, Nvidia climbed 3.4% after Elon Musk said during SpaceX’s earnings call that the company would rely exclusively on Nvidia chips for its AI infrastructure. The gains helped lift the Dow to another record high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite came under pressure as weakness across the broader technology sector weighed on sentiment.

Range-Bound Trading with Resistance at 1,800. The VN-Index closed the session at 1,776.46 points (down 0.77 points, or 0.04%), with trading volume matching the 20-day average. During the session, 125 stocks advanced while 189 declined. VIC, HVN, and GAS exerted a positive influence on the index, whereas VCB, TCX, and LPB weighed it down. Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of nearly VND500 billion, focusing their purchases on VHM, VIC, and MBB, while recording net sales of VPB.

Trading Strategy: Investors may take advantage of market pullbacks to gradually accumulate positions while maintaining a prudent cash allocation to manage risk and preserve flexibility to increase exposure once a market recovery is confirmed. Investors should avoid using margin to bottom-fish, as the market may still be in the process of forming a second bottom. In addition, technical rebound sessions provide an opportunity to rebalance portfolios by reducing exposure to companies whose business performance has fallen short of expectations.

Buy recommendation: POW, MBB; Current portfolio: LPB; Watchlist: HPG, REE, NVL

High-risk stocks to avoid: Real estate (PDR, KDH, NLG), HDG and PNJ