Influenced by factors such as optical communications pioneer and veteran glass manufacturer Corning securing a major order from Meta, alongside rising memory chip prices, A-share computing hardware stocks like CPO and memory saw significant gains. Against a backdrop of the US dollar falling to a four-year low and persistent geopolitical tensions, international gold prices surged once again, leading to a continued explosion in the A-share precious metals sector.
On January 28, A-shares showed divergent trends in early trading, with the Shanghai Composite Index posting a slight gain, while the Shenzhen Component Index and the ChiNext Index opened high but then moved lower, turning negative. Computing hardware stocks such as CPO, memory, and chips/semiconductors advanced. The precious metals sector continued its strong performance.
Hong Kong stocks exhibited stronger momentum, with the Hang Seng Index rising over 1% in the morning session to hit a new high since 2021. The Hang Seng Tech Index fluctuated but trended higher, with most technology and internet stocks rebounding. Sectors like semiconductors and non-ferrous metals were also active.
In the bond market, government bond futures saw fluctuating gains. In commodities, domestic commodity futures were mixed, with Shanghai gold rising over 2% and lithium carbonate falling over 2%. Key market movements:
A-shares: As of writing, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.29%, the Shenzhen Component Index down 0.19%, and the ChiNext Index down 0.24%.
Hong Kong Stocks: As of writing, the Hang Seng Index was up 1.08%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index was up 0.54%.
Bond Market: Government bond futures fluctuated higher. As of writing, the 30-year main contract was up 0.07%, the 10-year main contract was flat, the 5-year main contract was up 0.01%, and the 2-year main contract was down 0.01%.
Commodities: Domestic commodity futures were mixed. As of writing, the containerized freight index rose nearly 5%; asphalt and Shanghai gold were up over 2%; fuel oil, alumina, Shanghai silver, Shanghai aluminum, and Shanghai tin were up over 1%; rubber, soybean meal, rapeseed, and caustic soda saw modest gains. Manganese silicon, pulp, platinum, hot-rolled coil, rebar, industrial silicon, glass, iron ore, eggs, Shanghai copper, and polysilicon declined; coking coal, coke, palladium, and stainless steel fell over 1%; lithium carbonate and Shanghai nickel dropped over 2%.
At 10:10, the precious metals sector continued its explosive rise, with gold stocks experiencing widespread limit-up gains. Zhaojin Mining, Sichuan Gold, Western Region Gold, among others, all hit the daily upside limit.
The non-ferrous metals sector also showed strong momentum, with stocks like Baiyin Nonferrous and Yuguang Gold and Lead hitting the daily limit-up.
On the news front, against a backdrop of persistent geopolitical tensions and increased uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariff policies driving funds into gold for safety, the continued decline of the US dollar index provided further support for gold. International gold prices broke strongly through the $5,200 per ounce mark.
According to a Wall Street News article, investor concerns about the unpredictability of US policy are deepening, with the US dollar falling to its lowest level against major currencies in four years. However, US President Trump expressed no concern. He stated on Tuesday that the dollar is performing well, he is not worried about its decline, and he expects exchange rate fluctuations.
At 10:01, the Hang Seng Index expanded its gains to 1.2%, reaching a new high since 2021.
At 09:36, A-share semiconductor and chip stocks continued to strengthen. Qipai Technology, China Micro Semiconductor, and Nationz Technologies rose over 10%, while Fuman Micro, Mingwei Electronics, Jiejie Microelectronics, Naxin Micro, SG Micro, and others gained over 7%.
At 09:31, computing hardware stocks like CPO opened strong. Changfei Fiber opened with a limit-up涨停, Taichen Optoelectronics rose over 14%, with Changxin Bochuang, Hengtong Optic-Electric, Zhongtian Technology, and FiberHome Telecommunications among the top gainers.
On the news front, on January 27, Wendell Weeks, CEO of US-based Corning, stated that Meta has committed to paying Corning up to $6 billion by 2030 for optical fiber cables for its AI data centers. To meet the growing demand from giants like Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, Corning is expanding its factory.
At 09:26, the Shanghai Composite Index opened 0.25% higher, and the ChiNext Index opened up 0.51%. The precious metals sector continued its strong performance, with China Gold and Hunan Gold hitting limit-up涨停. The computing hardware theme was active, led by advanced packaging and CPO segments. The photovoltaic industry chain saw a pullback.
At 09:12, the Hang Seng Index opened 0.73% higher, and the Hang Seng Tech Index opened up 0.56%. Ming Ming is Very Busy surged 88% on its first trading day. JD.com, Kingsoft, BYD Co., and Lenovo rose over 1%, while HSBC Holdings and Zijin Mining Group gained over 2%.
At 09:16, the central parity rate of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar was set at 6.9755, up 103 basis points, marking the largest increase since August and the strongest level since May 17, 2023. The previous day's central parity rate was 6.9858, the previous official closing price was 6.9576, and the previous night session closed at 6.9545.
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