Stock market declines

The cautious sentiment of investors before the long holiday, along with facing significant pressure from the bluechip stock group, especially VIC stocks, has caused the stock market to lose more than 20 points in today's trading session (April 29).

At the end of the trading session, VN-Index decreased by 21.74 points (-1.16%), to 1,854.1 points; HNX-Index increased by 1.22 points (+0.49%), to 250.66 points.The breadth of the whole market with green color is somewhat overwhelming when buyers have 376 gainers and sellers have 322 losers.Similarly, green color also overwhelms the VN30 basket with 13 gainers, 11 losers and 6 reference codes.

Market liquidity increased compared to the previous trading session, with the volume of order matching transactions of VN-Index reaching more than 626 million shares, equivalent to a value of more than 18,200 billion VND; HNX-Index reached more than 57 million shares, equivalent to a value of more than 1,000 billion VND.

Foreign investors continued to strongly promote net selling with a value of In which, large stock VIC is under quite large selling pressure from domestic and foreign investors.Regarding the level of impact, VIC, VHM, TCB and VPB are the codes with the most negative impact on VN-Index and took away more than 24.4 points.

In the opposite direction, LPB, GAS, VRE and GVR are codes that maintained green color and helped the index hold on for more than 3.4 points.Commenting on the market, experts believe that VN-Index approaching the old peak of 1,860-1,900 points in a state of reduced liquidity and narrowed market breadth reflects the cautious sentiment of investors in the context of the business results picture of listed companies gradually becoming clearer.

In particular, the psychological effect before the holiday also contributes to making cash flow on the market more cautious.Usually, investors tend to reduce the margin ratio to reduce loan interest costs and prevent risks of fluctuations from the international market during long holidays.Based on the above context, the market scenario in May is likely to fluctuate in two main directions.

The first direction and with a higher probability of occurrence is that the VN-Index will enter a sideways phase after the holidays to absorb profit-taking pressure at the peak area.The current low liquidity status is not entirely negative, but only reflects investors' caution as the market gradually approaches the old peak area around 1,880-1,900 points, which is also a strong resistance zone that the VN-Index has not successfully surpassed twice and the market is about to enter a long holiday.

Differentiation will also take place more clearly instead of spreading across industry groups.The second scenario is more risky.

In case cash flow does not return and variables related to international geopolitics are unfavorable, the VN-Index may face adjustment phases to test lower support levels.In the current context, investors should prioritize a defensive strategy by reducing the proportion of stocks that have increased sharply, limiting the use of margin and maintaining a higher than normal cash ratio.

For investors who have had good profits in the previous period, priority should be given to protecting achievements.For investors who are holding weaker stocks than the market, it is necessary to consider restructuring the portfolio, because when the market adjusts, stocks without fundamentals or lack of cash flow often decrease more sharply than the index.Accumulation should only be carried out partially, in reasonable discounted price zones, and prioritize businesses with healthy financial foundations, stable profits, and less affected by fluctuations in input costs or exchange rates.