Photos: REUTERS
Global markets received a lift this month from the US-Iran ceasefire and pledges to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in a gradual pick-up in vessel movements and a drop in oil prices to pre-war lows.The majority of Federal Reserve policymakers foresee one rate increase by year-end, compared with previous forecasts for rate cuts. The market anticipates the first move at the September meeting.
For alternative assets, we believe gold will outperform oil for the remainder of the year, as the Bloomberg consensus targets an average year-end gold price of $4,800 per ounce.
The VN-Index has risen 40.6% over the past year, settling around 1,863 points on June 25 after hitting an all-time high of 1,937 in May. FTSE Russell confirmed in April Vietnam would be upgraded from frontier to secondary emerging market status from Sept 21, with inclusion in the FTSE global indices phased through 2027.
Meanwhile, the Jakarta index has fallen over 28% this year with foreign investors pulling out $3.8 billion since January, making it one of the worst-performing indices.
