Customers trading at Bảo Việt Securities Company's office in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — Most securities companies believe that with the current macro-economic headlines, the stock market is unlikely to find a direction, but short-term and long-term investors can still see many investment opportunities.

The market was steady in the last trading session of last week as large-cap stocks faced strong divergence.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market benchmark VN-Index finished a choppy week at 1,505.33 points, up 0.02 per cent. The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) rose 0.28 per cent to 450.59 points. 

For the week, the VN-Index still gained 0.43 per cent, while the HNX-Index rose 2.4 per cent. 

Liquidity was little changed compared to the previous week and it was lower than average for the sixth consecutive weeks, showing that investors were still cautious.

Foreign investors’ cash flows are still in a negative direction as they sold 13.3 million shares last week, worth VNĐ713 billion (US$31.2 million).

Analysts from Vietcombank Securities Company (VCBS) said that although the VN-Index has officially surpassed the psychological level of 1,500 points, it is mainly thanks to gains in large-cap stocks and the uptrend has not spread evenly across the market.

VCBS continues to expect that the benchmark will fluctuate and accumulate in the range of 1,480-1,510 points in the next few weeks and may be accompanied by an uptrend and a deeper divergence in large-cap stocks.

Therefore, investors can look for opportunities to take a surfing approach in stocks that have entered strong rallies in the past week, benefiting from the Russia-Ukraine tension. Meanwhile, long-term investors can still take advantage of the current market volatility to accumulate more target stocks.

However, investors should limit margin increases and retain a part of buying power to be ready to disburse in the upward direction if the market shows a breakout signal this week, VCSB added.

According to the securities firm, amid strong fluctuations in the international financial market, a negative influence on local investors is inevitable.

However, VCBS still considers the medium- and long-term prospects of the Vietnamese market to be positive, based on the gradual recovery of the economy according to the Government's economic opening roadmap and the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) said that geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine continued to be the focus of the market in the past week. The two sides have held talks with each other, but at present, no agreement has been reached to reduce tensions.

Commodity prices in the world continued to record another weekly gain.

The market received some support from the chairman of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell’s affirmation on the proposal to raise interest rates only by 0.25 per cent in March.

In fact, after the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, the benchmark has spent four consecutive weeks struggling and trading sideways in a range of 1,470-1,520 points. 

This is partly due to the current uncertain political situation in the world. This will continue to be the market’s focus this week, SHS said.

SHS believes that there are currently unforeseen factors affecting the market, which may change the trend in the short term.

However, if there are no sudden developments, the VN-Index is likely to continue to struggle and accumulate in a range of 1,470-1,520 points to wait for opportunities to break out.

Investors who participated in buying sprees before Tết in the sessions of January 12, January 18 and January 24, can continue to hold the current portfolio towards the resistance area of ​​1,530-1,550 points.

Taking a more cautious approach, SSI Securities Joint Stock Company (SSI) believes that the VN-Index is still in a sideways trend once it slides back from the resistance area of ​​1,512 points.

The VN-Index needs to break through this zone with the trading volume remaining above the 50-day moving average to reinforce its ability to continue moving to the next resistance zone of 1,537 points. — VNS