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Since late 2020 to early 2021, Vietnam’s stock market has witnessed a strong rise in terms of liquidity, capital inflows and number of accounts. A certain number of stocks are set to ride on the country’s strong economic rebound this year.

Oil prices in 2021 are set to go up and prompt to higher oil stocks value. Photo: Hung Huy

Cement : While export growth is expected to halt due to the Covid-19 situation globally, the domestic market is on the recovery path given strong demand, putting the sector growth forecast to stay at 5-7% against the previous year.

Such positive outlook is thanks to a recovery in infrastructure development, the real estate and positive inflows from foreign direct investment (FDI).

In 2020, most of stocks from cement producers, such as HT1, BCC, and BTS all rose by corresponding rates of 22%, 23% and 8% against the beginning of the year.

Petroleum : Forecasts from international organizations expected brent oil prices to average US$52 per barrel in 2021, up 23% year-on-year.

A higher oil prices on the international markets would be a major boost to oil and gas projects in Vietnam, including the ongoing Dai Nguyen WHP, LNG Thi Vai and Long Son Petrochemicals Complex.

Profit growth of the petroleum sector could surge by 35.7% year-on-year in 2021, with SSI Securities Corporation predicting pre-tax profit growth of Petrolimex (PLX), Vietnam’s largest petroleum distributor, to expand by 200% year-on-year this year to VND4.8 trillion (US$208.65 million).

For PV Gas (GAS), an estimated higher fuel oil (FO) price by 19% year-on-year in 2021 could lead to the firm’s profit to increase by 16.3% year-on-year.

PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) is set for a busy year with its active bidding for major projects such as Block B, Nhon Trach power plants No.3 and No.4, as well as with other projects abroad.

PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) could also enjoy a fruitful year with demand for jack-up rigs on high following active oil exploration and production continues to rise.

At present, most stocks prices of oil companies have return to their pre-Covid-19 level, while a hike in oil prices could further prompt investors to oil stocks.

Retail sector : while the sector is highly susceptible to diseases and pandemic, customers have somehow adapted their lifestyles to a new circumstance following a Covid-19-ravaged year.

Nevertheless, the recovery process of Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) would be slow as the firm is operating in non-essential consumer services sector. Along with the economic recovery, MWG revenue growth from mobile phones and household appliances could go up by 10% year-on-year, lower than the 20% growth rate in the pre-Covid-19 period.

FPT Retail (FRT) would face a similar situation as its main business is from selling mobile phones.

For Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint-Stock Company (PNJ), a recovery in gold prices would help ensure the firm’s revenue growth this year.

Ngoc Mai-Thoi Nguyen (Hanoitimes)

TOKYO/NEW YORK — Asian shares hovered just below a record high on Friday as mixed U.S. economic data caused some investors to show restraint after a global stock market rally pushed many bourses to dizzying heights.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.03%, trading just shy of an all-time high reached in the previous session.

Australian stocks lost 0.31%. Shares in Tokyo fell 0.32%, pulling back from 30-year highs.

Futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.12%.

Markets in Greater China and most of Southeast Asia are closed on Friday for the Lunar New Year holiday.

China’s stock and bond markets, foreign exchange and commodity futures markets are closed through Feb. 17 for the holiday.

Bitcoin surged yet again to a new record high after BNY Mellon said it will offer custodian services for cryptocurrencies.

The dollar headed for a weekly loss, stung by bitcoin’s assent and disappointing U.S. economic data.

Trading in the United States and Europe on Thursday did not move prices enough to provide much direction, said Tom Piotrowski, a market analyst at CommSec in Sydney.

“We didn’t get much of a lead-in from the northern hemisphere,” Piotrowski said.

“Markets are in a bit of a holding pattern waiting for the next catalyst and it is just a question of whether that catalyst is going to be a positive one or a negative one.”

World stock markets were holding close to record highs on Thursday as investors weighed some tepid economic data against increasing vaccinations against COVID-19 and the prospect that more government spending and continued cheap money from central banks will drive higher growth and, eventually, inflation.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, fell 0.12% on Friday, also pulling back from a record high.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 eked out gains of 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.02%.

Prices held near records as investors bet on more government spending, although enthusiasm was tempered when U.S. President Joe Biden said that China was poised to “eat our lunch,” raising fears of renewed strain on Sino-U.S. ties.

U.S. weekly unemployment claims fell less than expected and core consumer prices rose at a slower pace, which caused some traders to temper the optimism about the economic outlook.

Cryptocurrency bitcoin [BTC=BTSP] reached a record high of $49,000 before paring gains to trade up 0.57% at $48,282.

BNY Mellon said it will form a new unit to help clients hold, transfer and issue digital assets.

That came just days after Elon Musk’s Tesla revealed it had bought $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency and would soon accept it as a form of payment for its cars.

Spot gold fell 0.22% to $1,821.86 per ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.19% to $1,823.30.

Gold prices are still on track for their best week in three amid broad dollar selling.[GOL/]

The dollar index drifted 0.02% lower on Friday, on course for a 0.6% weekly decline. [FRX/]

Soft demand at an auction of $27 billion of new 30-year Treasuries on Thursday continued to weigh on prices in Asia on Friday.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries rose to 1.1632%, while the 30-year yield edged up to 1.9468%.

Brent crude fell 0.69% to $60.72 a barrel, having dropped half a percent the previous session. U.S. oil fell 0.81% to $57.77 a barrel, after falling by 0.8% on Thursday.

OPEC cut its demand forecast and the International Energy Agency said the market was still oversupplied, which cast a gloom over energy markets.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the UN’s authoritative voice on weather, climate and water, recently warned that climate change will drive global temperatures to increase at a faster rate than normal despite the “cooling” effects of La Niña in 2020. According to WMO, La Niña has developed and is expected to last into next year, affecting temperatures, precipitation and storm patterns in many parts of the world. However, global warming could undermine La Niña’s effects, causing the weather to become more extreme and affecting the water cycle. Although La Niña typically has a global cooling effect, but this is more than offset by the heat trapped in our atmosphere by greenhouse gases. Given that fact, 2020 has become one of the hottest years and 2016-2020 is set to be the warmest five-year period on record.

Meanwhile, scientists have warned that the amount of ice in the Arctic Ocean surrounding the Arctic has melted to a record low in October, reflecting a slow recovery in the context of winter drawing near. With such a thawing rate, the Arctic Ocean is moving towards the prospect of no more ice in the summer. Shrinking sea ice means the ocean absorbs more heat, putting people at risk of suffering from the devastating impacts of climate change. WMO said that temperatures in the Arctic are rising twice as fast as the global average, seriously affecting the cryosphere and triggering the risks of floods due to the “explosion” of glaciers in the world.

The aforementioned reality has rung an “alarm bell” about the threats of climate change to human life. Poor countries are the most vulnerable to suffer the serious consequences of climate change.

Africa is considered to be the area most severely damaged by floods, droughts, global warming and the raging locust swarms. Rising temperatures cause a sharp drop in crop yields, while agriculture is the backbone of many African economies. According to researches, Africa’s GDP will decrease by 2.25% to 12.12% as the temperature increases. The sub-Saharan region has suffered from constant extreme weather events that affect tens of millions of people and threatened food security, causing direct economic losses of more than US$500 million. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessed that Africa will need between US$30-50 billion per year in the next decade to adapt to climate change, including the expansion of investment in “green” projects. This figure is equivalent to between 2-3% of the continent’s annual GDP.

However, it is not just poor countries, even the rich ones are not immune from the negative impacts of climate change. A study led by CE Delft, comprised of a group of social and environmental monitoring agencies based in the Netherlands, provided an in-depth analysis of air quality, health data and transport in more than 400 European cities, which showed that urban residents in Europe lose more than EUR160 billion annually due to the health impacts of air pollution. London has the highest social cost due to pollution as its residents lose EUR11.38 billion of their welfare. The annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) data published by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago also points out that air pollution reduces the life expectancy of every person on Earth by nearly two years. Nearly 25% of the global population are living in four South Asian countries which are in the group of nations with the most severe air pollution.

During a recent virtual meeting on climate change which saw the participation of 52 finance ministers around the world, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva urged countries to prioritise economic policies in the fight against climate change, because it is a major threat to growth and prosperity. The IMF leader stressed the need to ensure “green” investment in the anti-COVID-19 budget and to minimise the impacts of the pandemic on the economy.

Given the risk of the disease distracting the world from the fight against climate change, UN officials and financial institutions called on countries to devote resources towards stopping the climate crises. While countries are seeking ways to recover from the economic shock caused by the pandemic, experts have proposed some basic measures to stabilise the global climate. Accordingly, countries should promote change in the structures and transition in the system of energy production and consumption towards building a green economy, considering this a new direction to help limit the increasingly negative developments of the global climate.

On February 15, CNN reported more than 53,800 new Covid-19 infections in the U.S., its lowest daily case count since October 2020 and a vastly different number from just the previous month, when infections were topping 200,000 a day.

The number of new cases remained under 80,000 for the fourth day in a row Wednesday, while hospitalizations fell to their lowest level since November 10. The number of Covid-19 patients requiring treatment in intensive-care units (ICU) also fell, to 13,103, the sixth consecutive day the total has been below 15,000.

Travelers wearing protective face masks at the airport in Denver, Colorado, U.S., November 24, 2020. Photo by Reuters.

There were other signs that the pandemic situation was improving.

“The situation in California is getting better, with the number of patients in ICU declining,” said Ton That Binh, a Vietnamese man working in the medical sector in San Jose.

He guessed that the state’s pandemic level could move soon from purple (widespread) to red (substantial). Under California’s color code, purple is applied for counties with more than seven daily new cases per 100,000 residents or a higher than 8 percent positivity rate; and red means four to seven new cases per 100,000, or a 5-8 percent positivity rate.

Binh felt a key reason for the improvement was the higher numbers of people wearing masks and following social distancing rules. Also, herd immunity may have occurred in several areas where the number of cases was high enough.

Remarkably, Americans have not had big crowd gatherings and protests since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, another factor leading to the declining cases.

However, Binh also feared that the situation could be reversed in the next few weeks because of winter storms and power cuts; and a further case reduction could only be seen in the spring.

Nguyen Quynh, a staff at the University of Missouri, Missouri, said Columbia City recorded an infection rate of 2.25 cases/1,000 residents on February 18, lower than the proportion of seven cases/1,000 in mid January. Consequently, students could go back to school and patients in medical centers could meet one family member.

Quynh thought vaccination was a key factor in helping reduce infections in her city. Not only were more and more people getting injected, people were wearing masks everywhere and working more from home.

Ninh Pham, a medical interpreter at the Fulton State Hospital in Missouri, said it seemed that doctors now understand the virus better and had come up with different methods of treating it, and there was increased availability of personal protective equipments (PPE). As a result, the number of patients in ICUs was reducing.

Ninh also believed that the pandemic situation was gradually coming under control, with the “anti-mask attitude” no longer mainstream as it was last year. The Biden’s administration is boosting scientific support for the community, she felt.

In Illinois, Nguyen Trung, with the University of Chicago, presumed that the smaller number of infections was an outcome of fewer people traveling after the Christmas and New Year holidays at the end of last year.

He said the habit of wearing masks and washing hands frequently has improved his family’s health, no one getting sick recently. In general, people’s voluntary actions were the most important factor in containing the Covid-19 pandemic, Trung said. Some were complying with the rules because they do not want violations listed on their CV, reducing their employment chances later, he added.

Vaccination side effects

Trung admitted that he’d been quite reluctant to take the Covid-19 vaccine at the beginning because he’d heard about dangerous side effects. Then he thought he should consider vaccination a benefit he is getting because his work is related to the Chicago University’s hospital. He got the two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in mid December 2020 and mid January 2021.

He suffered fatigue, headache and nausea after the first shot and a mild fever after the second one. The symptoms lasted for about 24 hours.

Since then, he was “confident that the vaccine will bring positive results in Covid-19 controlling in the U.S.”

Most states in the U.S. are giving vaccination priority to people on the frontline in the Covid-19 fight, including medical staff, police and people over 65.

Quynh in Missouri said she felt good after receiving two doses except for achy muscles on the arm that received the shot. She did acknowledge that others have had more serious side effects depending on their physical condition.

Ninh, who has had one dose, felt grateful for the advancement of science and hoped that the second shot next week would be fine for her. She has never had any allergic reactions to medicines before, she said.

In California, Binh noted that vaccinated people still carry the risk of transmitting the virus, so they should use masks and keep distance from others. These are critical measures in reducing infection cases, while vaccines help to decrease the number of deaths, he said.

Le Tuan Anh, a freelance photographer in New York, expected to get vaccinated early April following the priority order because he is under 65.

On Feb 16, a CNN report said that the U.S. was still months away from having most Americans vaccinated. About 14 million Americans have been fully vaccinated with both doses of their Covid-19 vaccines. That’s only about 4 percent of the U.S. population. And it takes weeks for vaccines to fully kick in. More than 11 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

A USA Today report quoted Jeff Zients, White House Covid-19 response coordinator, as saying the U.S. was on track to have enough vaccine supply for 300 million Americans by the end of July.

Cautious optimism

Tuan Anh noted that the number of infections in the U.S. was still high and state authorities were under pressure as they pondered whether or not to open up the localities. Businesses and employees were in financial difficulties.

In addition, he worried the pandemic would be hard to contain worldwide without enough effective vaccines for poor countries.

Quynh was also cautiously optimistic. She hoped to see that vaccination program speeded up in the U.S., with the government playing a key role. She also wanted to see a safe opening for businesses and workers in many sectors. Furthermore, research on the vaccines’ sustainable effectiveness should be enhanced to remove people’s doubts, she said.

“If vaccines do not have long-lasting effects, the early economic opening up could be counter-productive.”

However, William Le, living in Sacramento, California, expressed his optimism about the new policies. He felt people were obeying the social distancing rules because they were getting support packages from the government. More packages were coming, he’d heard. Small and medium enterprises were getting various assistance programs at state level.

“I see a very promising recovery in the coming time,” he said.

Ninh described the situation in the U.S. as “a light at the end of the tunnel” as the administration boosted the vaccination program to achieve real herd immunity in the near future. She looked forward to normal life returning before Christmas this year as President Biden has forecast.

“I want to see nothing more than that.”

* Two more dead bodies have been retrieved in glacier-hit India’s northern hilly state of Uttarakhand since Tuesday morning, an official at the local disaster management office said. The total number of dead bodies recovered so far has risen to 28, as 178 people are still missing.

* No new locally-transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday across the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said Tuesday. A total of 14 new confirmed cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported on the same day.

* South Africa will start its immunisation campaign with Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine after data showed AstraZeneca’s shot offered minimal protection against mild-to-moderate illness from the dominant local virus variant.

* More than 2.93 million children in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest data of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association.

* The European Union has approved the first shipment of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to Japan, the minister overseeing Japan’s vaccination programme said, as the country aims to start vaccination by mid-February.

* The French Health Ministry said 1.92 million people had received a first injection of the COVID-19 vaccine since the start of the vaccination campaign, while 296,265 second injections had been administered to date.

* India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 10,847,304 on Tuesday as 9,110 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry. According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 155,158 as 78 COVID-19 patients died since Monday morning.

* Mexico’s economy could grow as much as 5 percent in 2021 as it recovers from the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday.

* Australia has fewer than 50 active cases of COVID-19, official data released on Tuesday showed, the lowest number in nearly two months.

* Italy should be able to vaccinate at least 10 million people per month from Easter, Medicines Agency AIFA director general Nicola Magrini told daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Tuesday.

* The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 3,379 to 2,291,924, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday. The reported death toll rose by 481 to 62,156, the tally showed.

* Anyone entering the United Kingdom from Tuesday will need to be tested for COVID-19 on the second and eighth day after their arrival, an ITV reporter said.

* The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care in French hospitals reached 3,363 on Monday, the highest in more than two months, while hospitalisation figures as a whole rose for the second day running.

* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stressed he was working to ensure more vaccine shipments.

* The governing body of the Chicago Teachers Union agreed to allow its 28,000 rank-and-file members to vote on a tentative deal with the third-largest US school district to gradually reopen classrooms.

* Canada’s most populous province of Ontario said on Monday it would extend a stay-at-home order in Toronto and nearby suburbs by two weeks, but residents of three largely rural public health regions can leave their homes starting on Wednesday.

* Brazilian biomedical institute Butantan plans to vaccinate a city’s entire adult population of about 30,000 people against COVID-19 to test whether it lowers the infection rate.

* Nigeria has not yet found the South African variant of COVID-19 in its population and will continue with plans to distribute the AstraZeneca vaccine.

* Six militants including a Taliban key commander have been confirmed dead as government forces backed by fighting planes struck a Taliban hideout in Qaisar district of Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province on Tuesday, a statement of the national army said.