On April 8, as Middle East tensions rapidly eased, Asia-Pacific stock markets launched a comprehensive rebound. A-shares experienced an "epic short-squeeze rally," with over 5,000 stocks rising across the market. By the midday close, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.92%, the Shenzhen Component Index rose 3.87%, the ChiNext Index surged 4.81%, and the STAR 50 Index expanded its increase to over 5%. The combined turnover for the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets reached 1.54 trillion yuan in the morning session, an increase of 470.6 billion yuan from the previous trading day.
Sector-wise, AI application concepts including AI-generated series, AI marketing, Zhipu AI, media, and DeepSeek saw a full-scale breakout, with stocks like BlueFocus and Gravity Media hitting the daily limit-up. Computing hardware concepts such as optical modules, PCBs, liquid cooling, and optical fibers continued to strengthen, with companies like Fastprint and Dongshan Precision reaching limit-up. Gas turbine and transformer concepts rebounded, with stocks like Jereh and Wanze hitting limit-up. Space computing, satellite internet, and commercial aerospace concepts collectively rebounded, with Shenjian and Yingliu rising by the limit. Apple and consumer electronics concepts remained active, with Yidun Electron hitting limit-up. Precious metals including gold, silver, and non-ferrous metals collectively strengthened, with Western Gold and Xingye Silver Tin reaching limit-up. Semiconductors, humanoid robots, memory chips, space photovoltaics, and quantum technology concepts all advanced.
On the downside, chemical concepts like methanol, urea, and soda ash pulled back, with Blue Flame Holding falling by the limit. Oil-related concepts including oil services, shale gas, combustible ice, and oil and gas pipelines collectively declined, with Zhongman Petroleum dropping by the limit. Pharmacy and pharmaceutical commerce concepts underperformed.
Looking ahead, Huatai Securities noted that Middle East tensions have eased, creating a short-term window for TACO trading. The A-share market performance last Wednesday, April 1, can be seen as a preview of TACO trading, with two key directions to watch: The first group consists of previously oversold sectors. Statistics show the top declining first-tier industries in March included TMT, non-ferrous metals, steel, building materials, and machinery equipment. These represent the main themes of the spring rally cycle combined with technology, while also benefiting from shifting interest rate cut expectations. Machinery equipment is driven by external demand. The second group includes sectors with low correlation to oil prices and independent growth cycles, such as the AI chain and innovative drugs.
Hot Sectors: 1. AI Industry Chain Sees Collective Breakout The AI industry chain experienced a collective surge, with computing power leasing concepts strengthening. Dawei Technology, Xingyun Technology, Auroda, Hanggang Shares, and Huafu Fashion all hit the daily limit-up. Commentary: On the news front, on April 8, Zhipu officially launched the GLM-5.1 model, positioning it as the world's strongest open-source model, while raising prices by another 10%. After the price hike, GLM-5.1's cached token price for coding scenarios is close to that of Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.6. This marks the first time a domestic large model has achieved price parity with leading overseas providers in core scenarios.
2. Precious Metals Concepts Active Gold, silver, and non-ferrous metals concepts collectively strengthened, with Western Gold and Xingye Silver Tin hitting limit-up. Commentary: Spot gold broke above $4,850 per ounce, rising 3.19% intraday. Additionally, China's central bank data showed the country's gold reserves reached 74.38 million ounces at the end of March, an increase of 160,000 ounces from the previous month, marking the 17th consecutive month of gold accumulation.
3. Computing Hardware Concepts Like CPO Continue Strengthening Computing hardware concepts including optical modules, PCBs, liquid cooling, and optical fibers continued to strengthen, with Fastprint and Dongshan Precision among multiple stocks hitting limit-up. Commentary: Western Securities pointed out that CPO is accelerating commercialization driven by industry leaders, with innovations emerging across various technical routes like LPO, NPO, and XPO. The industry is currently in the early stages of acceleration, with the next three years representing a key observation window for rapid penetration rate increases, supply chain structure formation, and value chain distribution.
4. Oil and Gas Sector Sees Collective Adjustment Oil and gas concepts collectively adjusted, with Zhongman Petroleum and Blue Flame Holding falling by the limit, while Keli, Guanghui Energy, Tongyuan Oil, and others declined significantly. Commentary: The U.S. and Iran reached a two-week temporary ceasefire agreement mediated by Pakistan, triggering a sharp drop in international crude oil futures. During morning trading, WTI crude futures fell nearly 20%.
Institutional Views: Huatai Securities: Middle East tensions have eased, creating a short-term TACO trading window. The firm stated that with the easing of Middle East tensions - as the U.S. agreed to suspend bombing Iran for two weeks and Iran accepted Pakistan's ceasefire proposal - asset performances from the previous night showed U.S. stocks rebounding intraday, crude oil falling sharply, and the VIX index rising then retreating. They believe a short-term TACO trading window has emerged, suggesting a shift from psychological optimism to practical action. However, uncertainties remain as the high VIX indicates markets haven't fully priced in the end of conflict, warranting careful position management. For allocation, last Wednesday's A-share market can serve as a TACO trading preview, focusing on two directions: previously oversold sectors and those with low oil price correlation plus independent growth cycles like the AI chain and innovative drugs. From a medium-term perspective, the conflict has highlighted energy security concerns, suggesting continued attention to the power chain, with any short-term adjustments potentially presenting allocation opportunities.
Huajin Securities: A-shares may have bottomed short-term. Current conditions suggest fundamentals may continue improving, overseas risks have been largely released, sentiment adjustments are sufficient, and policies remain supportive - indicating A-shares may have found a short-term bottom. The firm recommends continuing to allocate on dips to: 1) sectors with favorable policies and upward industry trends like communications (AI hardware), electronics (semiconductors, AI hardware), new energy (AI power, energy storage), innovative drugs, non-ferrous metals, chemicals, and defense (commercial aerospace); and 2) undervalued dividend sectors like coal, power, and banks.
Citic Securities: Suggests focusing on cloud industry chain and computing power leasing related targets. The firm noted that with the explosion of Agent applications and multimodal ecosystems, capital expenditure and computing power demand mismatches, and global token usage accelerating, the cloud industry chain may enter a period of volume and price growth over the next two years. For the cloud industry chain, demand is pushing up price levels, entering a cycle of simultaneous volume and price increases. For computing power leasing, tight supply of quality computing chips gives leading leasing providers significant advantages, with higher leverage enhancing growth certainty. They recommend focusing on cloud industry chain and computing power leasing related targets.
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