So the ASX got absolutely hammered a couple months back - down 6.2% in March, worst month since early 2022. Middle East tensions, inflation concerns, the usual suspects. But here's the thing: when the market pulls back like that, you actually get some decent opportunities if you know where to look.

I've been digging into what looks like solid top 10 shares to buy right now across both the ASX and US markets. Five picks from each side. Not just names that look cheap on the surface, but companies with real fundamentals backing them up - consistent earnings growth, competitive moats that actually matter, reasonable valuations relative to their growth potential, and the ability to hold up when things get messy.

On the ASX side, CSL is interesting. The healthcare play everyone knows about - plasma therapies, vaccines in over 100 countries. Share price has been weak since 2025, but underlying profit grew 14% to US$3.3 billion in FY2025. Healthcare is one of the cheapest sectors by price-to-fair-value right now. BHP is the obvious copper play with the energy transition and AI data center buildout both copper-hungry. They just hit 51% of EBITDA from copper for the first time. Wesfarmers owns Bunnings, Kmart, Officeworks - showed 14.4% profit growth despite the consumer slowdown, which says something about their resilience. Goodman is shifting toward data center development, which is where the real infrastructure demand is. And Macquarie, the big investment bank, just saw asset management profit surge 43% in the first half of FY2026.

The US side is where you get the AI infrastructure exposure. Nvidia obviously - the chip maker powering basically all AI computing. Revenue hit $215.9 billion in FY2026, up 65% year-over-year. Data center alone was $193.7 billion. Stock is down about 8% year-to-date, which some see as a better entry point. Microsoft is still in early AI adoption phases - Azure grew 39%, Microsoft Cloud crossed $51.5 billion. Alphabet passed $400 billion in full-year revenue for the first time, Google Cloud up 48% in Q4. TSMC is the chip manufacturer everyone depends on - $122.4 billion full-year revenue in 2025, up 25.5% in Q4. And Palo Alto Networks, the cybersecurity giant, showing 15% revenue growth with next-gen security recurring revenue up 33%.

Here's what matters though: ASX stocks typically pay better dividends - around 3.3% yield versus 1.5% for global shares. But US companies reinvest earnings, which drives share price appreciation over time. ASX is concentrated in mining, banking, healthcare. Top 10 stocks are 49% of the entire index. US markets give you way more diversification and access to global tech that simply doesn't exist on the ASX.

Long-term performance? Both have delivered. ASX averaged 11.6% annually since 1900 including dividends, US around 10.1%. Most investors end up mixing both markets anyway.

The March pullback created some real entry points. But remember, lower price only matters if the business is actually sound underneath. Focus on what drives each company first, then think about your risk tolerance and time horizon. That's how you actually find the top 10 shares to buy now that make sense for your portfolio.