A-share Market Close Review | Shanghai Composite Index Falls 1.59%, Barely Holds 3,700 Points; Baijiu and PCB Concepts Buck the Trend

On October 15, the three major A-share indices opened lower and fluctuated downward, with the decline narrowing slightly in the afternoon. The Shanghai Composite Index dipped to a low of 3,674.82 points during the session and barely held the 3,700-point mark at the close, while the ChiNext and STAR 50 indices led the declines. As of the close, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.59% to 3,707.48 points, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 2.43% to 11,816.79 points, the ChiNext Index fell 2.92% to 2,783.17 points, the STAR 50 Index fell 1.50% to 1,359.52 points, and the BSE 50 Index fell 3.44% to 967.51 points. Combined turnover of the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets was 1,632.996 billion yuan, up 218.594 billion yuan from the previous trading day. Across the market, 430 stocks rose, 5,108 fell, and 38 were flat, with 36 hitting the daily limit up and 28 hitting the daily limit down; advancing stocks accounted for about 8%. By sector, Baijiu II, state-owned large banks II, insurance II, white goods, and securities II closed higher against the trend; shipping ports, communications equipment, wind power equipment, optical communications, consumer electronics, semiconductors, and coal mining led the declines. Drivers Overnight, the three major U.S. stock indices all closed lower, with the Nasdaq down 1.88% at 26,692.87 points, the S&P 500 down 1.11%, and the Dow down 0.09%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 4.30%, with the chip stock index posting a sixth consecutive decline and its longest losing streak since May 2025. U.S. September CPI rose 3.7% year over year and core CPI rose 2.6% year over year, both above market expectations, and bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in October briefly rose to 50%. On October 15, Asia-Pacific markets weakened in tandem. South Korea's KOSPI opened down 5.59% at 5,673.01 points and at one point extended its decline to more than 6%, with SK Hynix down more than 9% and Samsung Electronics down more than 7%; the Korea Exchange triggered the SIDECAR mechanism to suspend program selling. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell more than 3% during the session. That day, A-share semiconductors fell 2.71%, communications equipment fell 5.26%, optical communications fell 4.04%, components fell 2.94%, consumer electronics fell 3.07%, and shipping ports fell 5.29%, while Baijiu II rose 1.72%, state-owned large banks II rose 0.81%, insurance II rose 0.71%, white goods rose 0.53%, and securities II rose 0.51%. The Shanghai Composite Index's decline was smaller than those of the Shenzhen Component Index and the ChiNext Index. On liquidity, the People's Bank of China on October 15 conducted 700 billion yuan of 6-month outright reverse repurchase operations through fixed-quantity, rate-based bidding with multiple price awards. As 500 billion yuan of the same tenor matured during the month, the 6-month tenor was rolled over with an additional 200 billion yuan; combined with an additional 200 billion yuan for the 3-month tenor, the two tenors together added 400 billion yuan in October. Hot sectors 1. [PCB concept] PCB concept stocks were active against the trend. Camelot Electronics Technology hit the 20CM daily limit within 3 minutes of the open, Suntak Technology hit the daily limit at the open, Tianjin Printronics Circuit Corporation hit the daily limit, Guangdong Champion hit the daily limit for its second board in three days, Changzhou Aohong Electronics hit the daily limit for its 11th board in 19 days and set a record high, and Wus Printed Circuit rose 1.03%. On the catalyst side, on the evening of October 14, Wus Printed Circuit, Suntak Technology, and Camelot Electronics Technology collectively disclosed earnings forecasts for the first three quarters of 2026, expecting year-over-year growth in net profit attributable to shareholders of 100.54% to 109.74%, 89.73% to 118.43%, and 192.88% to 218.92%, respectively, with Camelot Electronics Technology expecting third-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders to rise 1,266.91% to 1,442.76% year over year. By sector index, the PCB concept fell 2.88%, components fell 2.94%, and copper-clad laminates fell 0.95%, with activity that day concentrated in individual stocks. 2. [AI short dramas and animated dramas] Stocks in the media direction were repeatedly active. Ciwen Media Co.,Ltd. hit the daily limit at the open, opened during the session, and sealed the limit again late in the day for a fifth consecutive board; DuZhe Publishing&Media hit the daily limit, and H&R Century Union Corporation closed up 6.24% (after approaching the daily limit during the session and paring gains late in the day). On the catalyst side, Tencent recently launched the "Lpaopao Short Drama" mini-program embedded in the WeChat ecosystem, focused on free viewing and targeting ByteDance's Hongguo Short Drama; the WeChat Open Platform, starting October 16, partnered with WeChat Marketing to launch the "Micro Short Drama" mini-program incentive campaign for the fourth quarter of 2026, with the incentive period running from October 16 to December 31. By sector index, digital media fell 3.04%, film and television theaters fell 2.01%, gaming II fell 1.63%, and publishing fell 0.71%, with activity that day concentrated in stocks within the concept. 3. [Baijiu] Baijiu II rose 1.72%, ranking first among Shenwan second-level industries. Gansu Huangtai Wine-Marketing Industry hit the daily limit for its second board in three days, Anhui Golden Seed Winery rose 6.90%, and Jiangsu King's Luck Brewery Joint-Stock and Jinhui Liquor rose 3.12% and 3.25%, respectively. On the news front, according to Cailian Press, feedback from distributors, wholesalers, and terminal retailers in Henan, Shandong, Guangdong, and Anhui showed that baijiu channel inventory is still in a phase of continued destocking, with some surveyed liquor merchants seeing inventory fall about 10% to 20% year over year, and some terminal inventory already kept at one to two months. Declining sectors Shipping ports led the declines with a drop of 5.29%. Nanjing Tanker Corporation, COSCO SHIPPING Energy Transportation, and China Merchants Energy Shipping all hit the daily limit down, with China Merchants Energy Shipping closing at 19.33 yuan, down 10.01%; the sector had risen 1.05% the previous trading day. Communications equipment fell 5.26% and optical communications fell 4.04%, with Eoptolink Technology Inc., Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock, and Zhongji Innolight falling 7.49%, 6.80%, and 5.19%, respectively. Semiconductors fell 2.71%, with Montage Technology and GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. falling 6.21% and 4.90%, respectively. Wind power equipment fell 4.13%; consumer electronics fell 3.07%; coal mining fell 2.08%, with Yunnan Coal & Energy hitting the daily limit down and Beijing Haohua Energy Resource and Shaanxi Heimao Coking falling 8.88% and 7.75%, respectively; the sector had risen 1.41% the previous trading day. Precious metals fell 1.92%.