A-shares midday | Three major indexes opened low and rose high, the Sci-Tech 50 surged over 5%, with semiconductors and precious metals leading the gains.

Market Overview On August 5th, all three major A-share indices opened lower but rose throughout the day, resulting in a market pattern of "collective index rebound, widespread individual stock increases, and a more than 5% surge in the Sci-Tech Innovation 50 Index." By the midday close, the Shanghai Composite Index had risen by 1.34%, closing at 3873.56 points; the Shenzhen Component Index was up 1.56%, at 14101.90 points; and the ChiNext Index increased by 0.89%, closing at 3519.86 points. The Sci-Tech Innovation 50 Index soared by 5.18%, while the BSE 50 rose by 2.29%. A total of 3940 stocks in the market rose, while 1373 fell. The transaction volume in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen totaled 1.70 trillion yuan for the half day, an increase of 332.9 billion yuan from the previous trading day. Market Breakdown On the upside, the semiconductor industry chain saw a complete explosion, with sectors such as electronic chemicals, memory chips, photolithography machines, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation concepts leading the gains; precious metals and minor metals also performed strongly; computing power leasing and AI application concepts remained actively traded; the concept of intelligent driving surged at the opening with multiple stocks hitting their daily price limit. On the downside, the oil and gas extraction and service sectors experienced a volatile adjustment, with Tong Petrotech Corp. and KLGF weakening; banking, liquor, and traditional Chinese medicine sectors demonstrated lackluster performance. The CPO concept, which opened significantly lower in the morning, saw some recovery, but previously strong stocks like Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology Inc. faced capital outflow. Overall, funds moved away from high-performing sectors like telecommunications equipment to invest in semiconductors and non-ferrous metals, indicating a clear structural market trend. Popular Sectors 1. The semiconductor industry chain saw a complete explosion The electronic chemicals sector rose by 7.52%, the semiconductor sector increased by 5.86%, and the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation concept gained 6.71%. JHT Design Co., Ltd. achieved two consecutive daily limits, while Hubei Heyuan Gas Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Dawei Innovation Technology, Zhongjuxin, and Jiangyin Jianghua Micro-electronic Materials all hit their daily price limit, with Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor, Ingenic Semiconductor, and GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. rising over 5%. Commentary: On the news front, on August 3rd, the "Regulations on the Protection of Integrated Circuit Layout Designs" (2026 revision) were publicly announced, set to take effect from October 15, 2026, aiming to protect the proprietary rights of integrated circuit layout designs and encourage innovation in integrated circuit technology. From an industry perspective, according to TrendForce, the supply-demand imbalance for DRAM will continue until 2027; the global prices of memory chips have risen for three consecutive quarters, with last month's sales reaching a historic high of $74.6 billion. Additionally, the overnight Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged by 6.55%, with ARM up more than 17% and Intel up over 9%, boosting sentiment for the semiconductor sector in A-shares. 2. The computing power leasing concept remains actively traded The computing power leasing concept continues to strengthen, with Jiangsu Lettall Electronic achieving three daily limits in four days, Newcapec Electronics hitting a 20% daily limit, HIACENT rising over 16%, and Glory View Technology and Guangdong Golden Dragon Development Inc. also reaching their daily limits, while Goldlok Holdings (Guangdong) and iSoftStone Information Technology saw increases. Commentary: On the news front, the National Development and Reform Commission made it clear during a press conference at the end of July that an additional investment of 4 trillion yuan would be made for computing power network construction during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, officially including the computing power network in the national "six networks" significant deployment. From an industry perspective, multiple enterprises have recently disclosed significant computing power orders: Fengzhushou signed a 4.608 billion yuan computing power service contract, Goldlok Holdings (Guangdong) entered into a 3.195 billion yuan contract, and Xingyun Technology's computing power service contract amount has increased to 3.053 billion yuan. Data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology indicate that domestic AI computing power demand grew by 417% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, while effective supply growth was only 128%, resulting in an expanding supply-demand gap. Furthermore, a recent report from the global multi-model aggregation platform OpenRouter revealed that all top five products in the AI large model invocation list were developed by Chinese enterprises. 3. The intelligent driving concept saw a surge at the opening The intelligent driving concept was active at the opening, with Shenzhen Soling Industrial, Zhejiang Shibao, Xingmin Intelligent Transportation Systems, and Sensteed Hi-tech Group all hitting their daily limits, while VanJee Technology and Longhorn Auto increased by over 10%. Commentary: On the news front, on August 4th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially released the "Safety Requirements for Automatic Driving Systems of Intelligent Connected Vehicles" (GB44721-2026), which will be mandatory starting July 1, 2027. This is the first mandatory national standard in China covering L3 and L4 level advanced automatic driving, establishing a safety requirement system encompassing the whole lifecycle safety guarantee, dynamic driving task execution capability, human-machine interaction notification, and multi-dimensional inspection and testing. 4. Precious metals and minor metals saw significant gains The precious metals sector rose by 6.20%, and the minor metals sector increased by 6.21%. Sichuan Gold hit its daily limit, with Beijing Xiaocheng Technology Stock, Zhuzhou Smelter Group, and Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining showing significant gains; minor metal stocks like Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry, China Tungsten and Hightech Materials, and Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry also reached their daily limits. Commentary: On the news front, overnight COMEX gold futures rose by 1.07%, reaching $4134.2 per ounce, with spot gold touching $4100 per ounce. U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen indicated that the U.S. and Iran may soon reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, causing international oil prices to plunge, which alleviated market concerns about inflation, leading to a decrease in interest rate hike expectations, with the dollar and U.S. bond yields weakening slightly, supporting precious metals. Additionally, the World Gold Council's "Global Gold Demand Trends Report" released on July 30 indicated that global central banks net purchased 289 tons of gold in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 62%. The Bank of Korea announced on August 3rd that it would resume gold purchases after a 13-year hiatus, further boosting market sentiment.