Chinese A-shares opened lower and continued to decline, with the Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Component Index both dropping over 1%, while the ChiNext Index fell more than 2%. Retail, education, food, and autonomous driving sectors led gains, while defense, precious metals, commercial aerospace, and photovoltaic/wind power sectors lagged.
On December 16, the A-share market experienced a volatile morning session. By midday, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.22%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 1.88%, and the ChiNext Index dropped 2.35%. The broader market saw more decliners than gainers, with over 4,400 stocks across Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing exchanges in negative territory. Half-day turnover reached 1.14 trillion yuan.
Key sector performances included: - Consumer stocks such as retail and food bucked the downtrend, with Yonghui Superstores and Anji Food among the top gainers, hitting daily limits. - Autonomous driving concepts remained active, with Zhejiang Shibao and BAIC BluePark among over a dozen stocks hitting limit-up. - Commercial aerospace stocks retreated, with Longzhou Shares dropping to the daily limit. - Photovoltaic and energy storage sectors weakened, with Risen Energy falling over 10%.
Major index performances at midday: - Shanghai Composite: 3,820.85 (-1.22%) - Shenzhen Component: 12,866.09 (-1.88%) - ChiNext: 3,063.97 (-2.35%) - CSI 300: 4,490.41 (-1.35%) - STAR 50: 1,292.30 (-2.02%) - CSI 500: 6,967.12 (-2.06%) - CSI 1000: 7,157.53 (-2.07%)
Market drivers included broad-based declines in risk assets, with potential pressure from the Bank of Japan's expected rate hike (0.25% to 0.75%) and ETF sell-offs starting January. Meanwhile, China approved its first batch of L3 autonomous driving vehicles for road testing.
Hong Kong stocks also opened lower, with the Hang Seng Tech Index plunging 2.41% and the Hang Seng Index down 1.91%. Tech giants, financials, and state-owned enterprises led declines, while select airline and cosmetics stocks rose. Guoxia Tech surged over 127% on its debut.
Commodities were mostly lower at midday, with Shanghai tin down 3.59% and rapeseed oil falling 2.22%, while palladium jumped 4.65% and PVC rose 1.95%. Treasury futures edged higher, led by the 30-year contract (+0.22%).
Notable intraday moves: - Vanke bonds rallied, with "22 Vanke 04" up over 12%. - Semiconductor stocks declined, with SICC dropping over 10%. - The onshore yuan strengthened to 7.0428/USD, its highest since September 2024. - Platinum and palladium futures extended gains, up over 3.5% and 4% respectively.
Early session highlights included strong openings for retail stocks like Baihui Group (4th straight limit-up) and autonomous driving plays after the L3 approval news. The yuan midpoint hit a 14-month high at 7.0602/USD.
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