A-share mid-day trading | Index fluctuates weakly, retail and insurance stocks rise Ping An Insurance up nearly 5% to a 4-year high

On December 15, the morning index was weak and fluctuating, with over 2600 stocks in the red. The half-day turnover was 1.2 trillion, a decrease of 52.93 billion from yesterday. By midday close, the Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.11%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell by 0.71%, and the ChiNext Index fell by 1.29%. Analysts believe that the following reasons may affect the market: The cryptocurrency market also plummeted across the board, with Bitcoin dropping by over 2%. Some analysts pointed out that the market's main tone is risk aversion due to the news of Oracle postponing the construction of the OpenAI data center. Meanwhile, expectations of a rate hike by the Bank of Japan further exacerbated market caution. Currently, it is widely expected that the Bank of Japan will announce a 25 basis point rate hike at the interest rate meeting scheduled for this Friday. In terms of the market, the insurance sector surged, with Ping An Insurance rising by nearly 5% to a new high in over 4 years. The consumer sector strengthened, with rapid gains in the dairy industry concept, leading to Jiangxi Sunshine Dairy hitting the limit up. Liquor concepts were active, with Gansu Huangtai Wine-Marketing Industry hitting the limit up. Retail showed strong performance, with Baida Group Co., Ltd hitting limit up for three consecutive days. The commercial aerospace concept remained active, with Hunan Valin Wire & Cable and Jiangsu Zhongchao Holding both hitting limit up, following the trend. On the downside, sectors like cinema chains and computing hardware experienced a pullback. Looking ahead, CITIC SEC believes that the difficulty of next year's external demand continuing to exceed expectations is increasing, but there are more factors to look forward to in terms of domestic demand. Popular Sectors: 1. Liquor sector rebounded The liquor sector rebounded, with Gansu Huangtai Wine-Marketing Industry leading the gains, followed by Jiugui Liquor, Anhui Gujing Distillery, and Shede Spirits. 2. Insurance sector fluctuated and strengthened The insurance sector fluctuated and strengthened, with Ping An Insurance rising by over 4% to a new high since April 2021, followed by China Pacific Insurance, New China Life Insurance, The People's Insurance, and China Life Insurance. 3. Retail concept repeatedly active The retail concept was repeatedly active, with Baida Group Co., Ltd hitting limit up for three consecutive days, followed by Fujian Dongbai, Shanghai Aiyingshi, Shenzhen Quanxinhao, and Guangzhou Grandbuy. Institutional Views: 1. CITIC SEC: The difficulty of external demand continuing to exceed expectations is increasing, but there are more factors to look forward to in terms of domestic demand. According to a CITIC SEC research report, based on the content of this year's Central Economic Work Conference, expanding domestic circulation remains the focus, similar to last year's positioning. However, there is a huge difference in expectations and pricing in the stock market between domestic and foreign demand stocks compared to last year: at the end of last year, investors were generally cautious about foreign demand and optimistic about domestic demand, but the performance of foreign demand far exceeded expectations; this year, there is a lack of confidence in domestic demand stocks, despite the relatively full expectations for foreign demand stocks. In reality, the difficulty of next year's external demand exceeding expectations is increasing, but there are more factors to look forward to in terms of domestic demand. 2. China Securities Co., Ltd.: The underlying logic of the bull market is still there, and a new round of market rally is expected with the New Year. China Securities Co., Ltd. believes that the underlying logic of the bull market is still there, mainly driven by structural market trends and capital market reform policies. The market has already completed its adjustment, combined with the basic completion of fund rankings, and a new round of market rally is expected with the New Year. In terms of industry allocation in the medium term, the focus is on non-ferrous metals and AI computing power with certain cyclical catalysts, with a focus on commercial aerospace themes, supplemented by controllable nuclear fusion and humanoid Siasun Robot & Automation. 3. Guotai Haitong: The New Year offensive has already begun, optimistic about technology/securities insurance/consumption Guotai Haitong believes that considering the recent economic slowdown and accelerated decline in real estate sales, policy expectations are expected to be revised upward. With the stability of the renminbi, the expectation of a rate cut by the Chinese central bank is expected to increase in early 2026. At the trading level, the process of reducing positions for income while collecting funds is coming to an end, and the further allocation and institutional fund inflow at the end of the year and the beginning of the year are expected to improve market liquidity and active trading. The New Year offensive has already begun, and technology/securities insurance/consumption are expected to perform well. This article is reprinted from "Tencent Stock Selection", GMTEight editor: Wang Qiujia.