A-share noon review | External storm strikes, A-shares experience wide-ranging tremors! The Chinext Index fell by 0.5% in half a day, were you "washed out"?

The situation in the Middle East is heating up again, and the US and Israel are discussing restarting military action against Iran! Influenced by the news, on May 18, major indexes in the Japanese and South Korean stock markets all fell sharply, and the futures of the three major US stock indexes also experienced a collective plunge. Today, the A-share market experienced a huge shock, with all three major indexes briefly turning positive during the day. As of the midday close, the Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.22%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell by 0.31%, and the ChiNext Index fell by 0.50%. The turnover of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets in the first half of the day was 1.93 trillion yuan, a decrease of 242 billion yuan compared to the previous trading day. How will the sudden storm in the external market affect? Some analysts pointed out that against the backdrop of continued tension in the Middle East, the surge in international oil prices has intensified market concerns about a return of inflation. Expectations of a Fed rate hike in the US continue to rise. The CME FedWatch tool shows that the market currently expects the earliest possible Fed rate hike to be in December this year, with a probability approaching 51%. The market's expectations for a Fed rate hike in the US continue to rise, leading to the withdrawal of funds from the stock market. In addition, in its latest report, Goldman Sachs pointed out that the AI theme "has entered a stage of relatively scarce catalysts, and it is necessary to protect the year-to-date returns." The valuations of low-quality AI-related stocks have clearly deviated from their fundamentals, providing an opportunity for short selling. On the stock market, the storage chip and semiconductor industry chain collectively rose, with multiple stocks hitting the limit up, such as Toyou Feiji Electronics, Shenzhen Kaifa Technology, Both Engineering Technology. Semight Instruments' stock price surpassed Kweichow Moutai's, becoming the "new stock king" of A-shares; the computing power leasing concept showed strength, with Xiamen Hongxin Electronics Technology Group Inc., Bestlink Technologies hitting the limit up; the fiber optic cable and optical module concept became active again, with Xiamen UX IC, Tangshan Sunfar Silicon Industries hitting the limit up; the oil and gas sector showed a slight rise, with Tong Petrotech Corp., Guizhou Gas Group Corporation hitting the limit up or rising by over 10%; the coal concept rose, with Liaoning Energy Industry, Sundiro Holding hitting the limit up; the commercial aerospace concept was active, with Chongqing Zaisheng Technology Corp., Guangzhou Haige Communications Group Incorporated hitting the limit up; the power and power grid equipment concept showed strength again, with Beijing Jingneng Power, Xinjiang Lixin Energy, Chongqing Wangbian Electric (Group)Corp. hitting the limit up; the securities sector showed a slight rise, with Huaan hitting the limit up. As for the declines, the non-ferrous metals and precious metals concepts collectively fell, with Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining, Shanjin International Gold falling by almost 4%; sports concept stocks fluctuated downward, with China Sports Industry Group, Shuhua Sports, CoCreation Grass, and others hitting the limit down; the pork and breeding sector collectively fell, with Shandong Yisheng Livestock & Poultry Breeding, Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products falling by over 5%; the innovative drug concept fluctuated downward, with Tianjin Tianyao Pharmaceuticals hitting the limit down; the chemical fiber sector showed a weak trend, with Xinxiang Chemical Fiber, Huafon Chemical falling by over 5%. Looking ahead, Huaxi analysis stated that overseas inflation exceeding expectations is pushing up US and Japanese bond yields and tightening monetary expectations, temporarily suppressing global risk assets. However, the turnover of A-shares remains strong, indicating that the short-term adjustment is a benign consolidation. Popular Sectors 1. The storage chip concept is rapidly rising The storage chip concept is rapidly rising, with GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. hitting the limit up, and its stock price reaching a historic high. The total market value of A+H shares once exceeded 290 billion, with Toyou Feiji Electronics hitting the limit up. Review: Goldman Sachs' research report shows that the market is facing the most serious shortage of storage chips in the past 15 years. According to Qunzhi Consulting, judging from the GB capacity, the DDR storage demand for AI servers in 2026 is expected to increase by 105% year-on-year, and the HBM demand is expected to increase by 110% year-on-year, with both types of storage products maintaining rapid growth. 2. The computing power leasing concept shows strength The computing power leasing concept showed strength, with Xiamen Hongxin Electronics Technology Group Inc., Bestlink Technologies hitting the limit up. Review: On the news front, China Telecom Corporation, China Mobile Limited, China United Network Communications launched a series of trial commercial token packages. In addition, Xiamen Hongxin Electronics Technology Group Inc.'s Suihonghwa Token Factory global headquarters officially settled in Wuxi High-tech Zone, deploying the first batch of Huawei Ascend 384 Super Node Cluster in Jiangsu. 3. The CPO concept is active again The CPO concept is active again, with Hgtech hitting the limit up, and Hui Lyu Ecological Technology Groups hitting the limit up. Review: On the news front, on May 16, the National Information Optoelectronics Innovation Center developed the world's first 170GHz ultra-wideband device product based on independently developed ultra-wideband photonic chip technology, which is used in domestically produced optoelectronic measurement equipment. 4. Oil and gas stocks show strength Oil and gas stocks showed strength, with Guizhou Gas Group Corporation hitting the limit up, Tong Petrotech Corp. rising by over 10%, Sino Prima Gas Technology, KLGF rising by nearly 10%. Review: On the news front, the Iran conflict has nearly disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, causing about 20% of global liquefied natural gas supply to be blocked. Countries are reusing this high-polluting but stable energy source. South Korea's coal-fired power generation increased by over 30% last month. In Europe, Italy is also converting coal-fired power plants to standby mode in preparation for long-term energy shocks. Institutional Views Huaxi: After the shock, a summer offensive is expected Overseas inflation exceeding expectations is pushing up US and Japanese bond yields and tightening monetary expectations, temporarily suppressing global risk assets. However, the turnover of A-shares remains strong, indicating that the short-term adjustment is a benign consolidation. In this round of global tech market, benefiting from the strong AI industry and continuous earnings realization, profit expectations for the US tech sector have significantly improved since the beginning of the year. Currently, the valuations of both the US and A-share tech indexes are still in a reasonable range, indicating that the market's inner resilience is strong. After being stress tested, funds are expected to further concentrate on the high-growth industries. Industry recommendations include: 1. High-growth technology sectors: computing power hardware, new energy, Siasun Robot & Automation, etc.; 2. Upstream resources related to energy independence and controllability: chemicals, etc. Huaan: Short-term liquidity shocks should be watched out for In April, US inflation exceeded expectations, with Kevin Warsh, who has stated that controlling inflation is the main goal, officially taking over as the chairman of the Federal Reserve. Board member Milan, who is more dovish, submitted his resignation to the Federal Reserve, with the market betting that the Federal Reserve may accelerate its shift to a hawkish stance, exerting a certain constraint on global market risk appetite in the short term. The improvement in April inflation data is mainly driven by input factors, while domestic demand still needs to be boosted, as confirmed by the weakness in financial data on credit. However, given the strong exports at present and the overall improvement in price levels, the necessity of implementing loose tools in monetary policy is further reduced, indicating an intention to marginally tighten liquidity in the execution of the monetary policy. Therefore, caution should be exercised in the short term against possible liquidity shocks. Guotai Haitong: Computing power futures catalyze new narratives, long-term industry expansion logic continues Guotai Haitong released a research report stating that CME plans to launch computing power futures anchored to the GPU as needed rental price index, demonstrating that the scope of futures market services is extending from traditional commodities to emerging industries. For futures companies, the introduction of new products not only brings an increase in trading volume, transaction fees, and customer equity precipitation, but more importantly, it broadens the industry boundaries and risk management scenarios served, promoting the upgrade of services from traditional brokerage channels to comprehensive risk management services for industrial customers. The long-term logic of industry expansion continues.