A-share Midday Review | STAR 50 rises 2.35%, semiconductors strengthen, gold stocks decline

On November 12, the three major A-share indices opened lower collectively, then fluctuated upward, surging and pulling back during the session, with the market showing a divergent pattern of "tech growth leading gains, high-level themes retreating, and more stocks falling than rising." As of the midday close, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.20% to 3,688.05 points, the Shenzhen Component Index rose 0.06%, and the ChiNext Index rose 0.06%; the STAR 50 Index rose 2.35%. Across the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, 2,239 stocks rose and 2,825 stocks fell. Half-day turnover across the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets was RMB1.2215 billion, an increase of RMB293.1 million from the previous trading day. On the capital flow side, in the morning session main funds recorded net inflows into sectors including semiconductors, electronics, and electronic chemicals, and net outflows from sectors including non-ferrous metals, power equipment and new energy, and transportation equipment, with the semiconductor sector seeing net inflows exceeding RMB7.8 billion. Market Overview On the board, on the upside, aquaculture, bathroom appliances, and rare earth sectors led gains, while semiconductor equipment, integrated circuit manufacturing, gas, and medical services sectors strengthened in tandem; on the downside, video media, other digital media, and precious metals sectors led declines, while film and cinema, gaming, and complete vehicle sectors weakened. At the individual stock level, there was separate localized activity: Zhejiang Fenglong Electric hit its fourth consecutive limit-up, Xiangyang Automobile Bearing hit its third consecutive limit-up, and Guangzhou Grandbuy and Ningbo Zhongbai both hit limit-up, but the Siasun Robot&Automation sector index still closed down 1.89%, with individual stocks and the sector failing to move in sync. Overall, overnight strength across the US semiconductor and memory sectors drove an early surge in the tech growth direction, with the ChiNext Index rising nearly 2% at one point during the session and the STAR 50 Index rising nearly 5% at one point, but heavyweight and thematic stocks failed to move in sync, gains narrowed noticeably before noon, and more stocks fell than rose overall. Previously active themes such as AI comic dramas pulled back, capital concentrated into the semiconductor industry chain, and the non-ferrous metals sector saw net outflows. Hot Sectors 1. Semiconductor industry chain strengthens collectively The semiconductor industry chain strengthened collectively: Ningbo TIP Rubber Technology hit its third consecutive limit-up, Centec Networks rose over 12%, Enflame Technology rose over 12% and hit a new high since listing, Cambricon rose nearly 10%, briefly reclaiming the RMB1,000 mark during the session before falling back below RMB1,000, and TongFu Microelectronics touched limit-up during the session before opening and was up over 6% at midday. Comment: On the news front, overnight US semiconductor and memory sectors strengthened across the board, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 5.66%, SanDisk up over 13%, Micron Technology up over 11%, SK Hynix up over 9%, and Western Digital up over 8%; AI cloud service provider CoreWeave reported third-quarter revenue of US$3.661 billion, up 168% year on year, with a contract backlog of US$132.5 billion, and its shares surged 24.71%, driving a recovery in sentiment across the AI hardware industry chain. In addition, Alibaba announced on the evening of November 10 a plan to spin off its wholly owned subsidiary Pingtouge (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd. for a separate listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; the announcement disclosed that cumulative shipments of Pingtouge's Zhenwu series AI chips reached 560,000 units as of April 2026, having served more than 650 enterprise customers. 2. Gas sector repeatedly active The gas sector opened lower and moved higher: Xinjiang East Universe Gas hit its fourth consecutive limit-up, Xinjiang Hongtong Natural Gas hit limit-up, Shandong Shengli rose over 4%, and Xinjiang Torch Gas and Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation followed higher. Comment: On the news front, residential gas prices in multiple regions have recently been adjusted. Among them, the Wuhan Municipal Development and Reform Commission issued the "Wuhan Residential Piped Natural Gas Price Adjustment Plan" (Wu Fa Gai Jia Fei [2026] No. 290) on November 5, under which, effective November 15, the first-tier residential gas price will be raised from RMB2.53 per cubic meter to RMB2.91 per cubic meter, and the upper limit of annual gas consumption for the second tier will be raised from 600 cubic meters to 1,100 cubic meters; the plan also establishes a linkage mechanism between upstream and downstream piped natural gas prices, with the terminal residential gas sales price linked on a one-year cycle. 3. Medical services and CRO concepts move higher The medical services sector was active: Jiangsu Aoyang Health Industry, Berry Genomics, and Hainan Shuangcheng Pharmaceuticals hit limit-up, Anhui Wanbang Pharmaceutical Technology rose over 8%, and Shanghai Model Organisms Center, Inc. and Hitgen Inc. followed higher. Comment: On the news front, the AI drug discovery direction was catalyzed in recent days by overseas industry remarks. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in the company's IPO roadshow video that cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and mental illness could become things of the past in less than 10 years; he previously said that AI is expected in the future to help find cures for most cancers and prevent Alzheimer's disease. 4. Precious metals sector falls collectively The precious metals sector continued to move lower: Shanjin International Gold fell over 6%, Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining fell over 5%, Western Region Gold, Shandong Gold Mining, and Zhongjin Gold Corp.,Ltd fell over 4%, and Hunan Gold Corporation followed lower. Comment: On the news front, spot gold fell 1.12% overnight to US$3,987.69 per ounce, breaking below the US$4,000 mark. US October CPI rose 0.4% month on month, above the market expectation of 0.3%, and combined with hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials, expectations for a December rate hike heated up; the dollar index rose 0.66% to 102.908, the highest since April 2025, and gold prices came under pressure and moved lower.