Vietnam Insight

Highlights

US stock futures little changed ahead of inflation data, Nikkei 225 and European stocks fall, crude oil climbs toward $95 per barrel. US market: US stock futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors awaited the September consumer inflation report for clues on the Federal Reserve's (Fed) next interest rate decision. On corporate news, Bank of America shares fell more than 2% in after-hours trading after federal regulators imposed a fine of more than $1.2 billion, alleging that the bank had failed to report more than $5 billion of suspicious transactions over several years. In Tuesday's regular session, the Dow Jones fell 0.35%, the S&P 500 fell 0.02% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.15%. Memory stocks extended their decline amid growing concerns over artificial intelligence (AI)-related investment and intense competition from China, with Micron down 4.6%, SanDisk down 1.7%, Lam Research down 3.2% and Applied Materials down 7.2%. Financial stocks also largely ended the session in the red after releasing quarterly earnings, including Citigroup (-5.3%), Wells Fargo (-2.6%), Goldman Sachs (-0.1%) and JPMorgan (-0.3%). Crude oil: Crude oil rose to nearly $95 per barrel on Wednesday.

Sideways with sharp divergence. The market edged lower and remained sharply divergent. Vingroup stocks reversed to recover part of the previous session's decline, while banks diverged, with HDB and VPB rising strongly as other banks fell. The market continues to trade below the MA 50, with support and resistance at 1,720 - 1,800 respectively.

Trading strategy: Prioritize defensive stocks with low beta, strong cash flow, high dividends and low leverage amid high interest rates. With thin liquidity the market can fall suddenly, so buying on pullbacks is more appropriate than chasing prices. Also pay more attention to individual sectors and stocks than to the overall index, given the sharply divergent market. Prioritize sectors with strong capital inflows and expectations of outstanding Q3 business results.