Global markets are moving in sync, creating a clear divide in opinions on the memory storage sector. Two quarterly reports that exceeded expectations failed to boost the stock prices of memory giants SanDisk and Western Digital. Instead, both companies saw their after-hours share prices suffer significant declines. This global capital market linkage is evident, with the A-share chip index falling over 24% from its 2026 high as of August 6, causing related stocks to experience sharp recent volatility. During Asia-Pacific trading on August 6, Kioxia and SK Hynix both dropped more than 10%. This synchronized movement across the global memory storage sector has brought a key question to the forefront: Is the current upcycle in the memory chip industry, driven by the AI boom, still ongoing, or has it reached its peak?
A dramatic shift in market style since July has put fund rebalancing to a major test. The A-share market has seen a sharp rotation, with previously leading AI, semiconductor, and other tech growth sectors undergoing substantial corrections, while traditional value sectors, which had been underperforming, have generally rebounded. Consequently, many funds heavily invested in AI and semiconductors have experienced significant pullbacks. Notably, some of these hard-hit funds had just completed large-scale portfolio shifts in the second quarter, moving from traditional sectors like consumer goods and resources into the tech track. This was driven by factors ranging from changes in fund manager style to active decisions by managers to "chase the trend" in a diverging market.
Mortgage rates have dipped below 2.8%, but banks are setting qualification and channel partnership thresholds. A visit to several banks in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou by China Securities Journal reporters on August 6 revealed that most banks' mortgage rates remain at 3% or above. While some foreign banks can offer home loans with rates below 2.8%, these low-interest loans come with requirements for customer qualifications and partnerships with specific channels. Some banks have indicated that although they cannot lower loan rates, they can offer homebuyers certain price discounts through their partnered real estate projects.
The pace of global liquidity tightening has paused, with brokerages predicting marginal improvements in the second half of the year. A surge in oil prices, which fanned inflation data, had heightened expectations for a global liquidity tightening. However, with oil prices retreating and major central banks like the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, and Bank of England all holding steady in July, market concerns have somewhat eased. Multiple industry insiders told China Securities Journal that if geopolitical tensions ease, leading to lower oil prices and reduced inflationary pressure, the market's previously over-priced expectations for rate hikes may be corrected, potentially leading to a temporary easing of tightening pressures. For investors, areas like technology and high-end manufacturing, resource sectors, and low-valuation, high-dividend yield assets are worth watching. The AI industry chain is still in its early stages with sustained high景气度 (prosperity), and gold prices are also expected to return to an upward trajectory.
The A-share market is characterized by stock-picking and rapid sector rotation, with institutions expecting a structural rally in the tech and manufacturing theme to continue periodically. On August 6, the market showed these characteristics, with major indices staging an "N-shaped" volatile session. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.57% at 3900.35 points, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.24% to 14110.12 points, the ChiNext Index dropped 0.55% to 3515.56 points, and the STAR Composite Index rose 1.25%. Total turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges was 2.5288 trillion yuan, shrinking by 130.8 billion yuan from the previous session, with over 2,600 stocks rising.
Demand from tantalum capacitors is creating incremental needs, leading to a price surge in metallic tantalum. Since the beginning of 2026, domestic tantalum prices have jumped nearly 1.4 times. Industry insiders attribute this sharp rise to a structural imbalance in the global tantalum metal supply-demand landscape. On the supply side, the global tantalum ore supply chain is fragile with significant rigidity. On the demand side, the explosion of the AI computing industry has opened up new growth space, with tantalum capacitors and tantalum targets showing high growth elasticity.
Private equity firms' July research shows a "fondness" for technology, with the domestic computing power chain becoming a new consensus. The periodic correction in the tech sector has not dampened institutional research enthusiasm. Electronics, communications, and computers remain key areas of focus for private equity firms. Interviews with Shanghai Securities News reporters revealed that private equity firms still have a strong interest in the adjusted tech sector and are actively seeking new investment opportunities within the supply chain. The domestic computing power chain, with its logic of industrial trends, self-sufficiency, and long-term growth potential, is expected to become a major focus for private equity in the next phase.
Gold prices are in a tug-of-war, with the trend still unclear. On August 6, several domestic gold jewelry brands quoted prices for domestic gold jewelry at around 1300 yuan per gram, a rise of over 55 yuan per gram from the previous day. This price adjustment follows gold's rapid breakout after a period of choppy trading. On that day, London spot gold continued its ascent after rising over 5% the previous day, briefly breaking through $4300 per ounce. Spot gold on the Shanghai Gold Exchange (Au99.99) also rose for two consecutive days by over 2%, breaking through 935 yuan per gram on August 6.
How to proceed in the second half of the year? High-quality development "blueprints" are being unveiled, with state-owned enterprises focusing on their main businesses and seeking momentum from AI. China Resources Group is proposing to deepen cost reduction across the entire chain, China State Construction is accelerating the creation of a unique urban renewal model, and National Pipe Network Group has clarified it will speed up the construction of major projects like resource channels, interconnections, and gas storage. These are among the blueprints emerging from the mid-year working conferences of various state-owned enterprises, outlining their plans for high-quality development in the second half of the year.
A copper rush is disrupting global supply chains, and the supply of "computing metals" is under pressure as AI infrastructure expands. The rapid expansion of AI computing infrastructure is tightening supplies of "computing metals," a term used by the market for non-ferrous metals like copper, tungsten, tin, and tantalum. On August 6, global copper prices hit new highs again, impacted by the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) ban on copper concentrate exports. Meanwhile, AI companies domestically and internationally continue to increase capital expenditures for AI infrastructure. A sudden policy change in a major copper and cobalt producer is prompting Chinese mining companies to preemptively plan for downstream processing lines. Late on August 6, international copper prices surged sharply, with the LME three-month copper contract briefly touching $14,369.5 per ton, approaching the historical high of $14,527.5 per ton set in January. This spike is linked to the new policy in the DRC, a major copper and cobalt producer. Reports indicate the DRC has banned the export of copper and cobalt concentrates. Industry insiders told Securities Times that this policy aims to force companies to complete smelting locally, which benefits Chinese mining companies with local smelting and processing capacity.
Pig prices have stopped rising and fallen back to bottom; market recovery may come later than expected. After a brief recovery in early July, domestic pig prices have reversed course and fallen again, breaking the market's once-anticipated reversal of the pig cycle. Monitoring from Zhuochuang Information shows that the national average pig slaughter price had dropped to 10.33 yuan per kilogram by August 5, again approaching the 10 yuan mark. The previous rebound is widely seen as a short-term move driven by slaughter schedule adjustments and temporary supply tightening, with the market now resuming its downtrend.
Offshore wind power has achieved another key technological breakthrough, with industry chain companies exploring development opportunities. China's technology for deep-sea floating offshore wind power saw another critical breakthrough. On August 6, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced that the world's first 16-megawatt tension-leg floating wind platform, the "Haiyou Anlan," has successfully connected to the Lufeng oilfield grid, providing green electricity directly to the offshore oil field. Wu Zewei, a special researcher at Sushang Bank, told Securities Daily that the successful operation of the "Haiyou Anlan" marks a significant advancement for China's deep-sea floating offshore wind power technology, exploring a new technological route for the country's offshore wind development. Supported by iterations of core technology and national policy, deep-sea offshore wind is entering a development window for capacity expansion, with listed companies in the industry chain simultaneously advancing capacity expansion, core technology research, and domestic and international project layouts to capture long-term development opportunities.
Copper prices are rising, prompting upstream and downstream companies to seize market opportunities. Copper prices have continued to climb since the second half of the year. Wind data shows that on August 6, the average spot copper price in China was 108,400 yuan per ton, up 1.03% from the previous day's 107,300 yuan and 6.07% from June 30's 102,200 yuan. This price level is close to the historical high of 108,800 yuan per ton set on May 13. The "computing metals" market is heating up. With the accelerated construction of global AI computing infrastructure in the first half of the year, demand for related non-ferrous metals like copper, aluminum, tin, tantalum, and indium has been released, leading to significant price increases. Data from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association shows that from January to June, copper and aluminum prices rose by 31.4% and 18.8% respectively, while the three core minor metals of tin, tantalum, and indium surged by over 40%, 158%, and 60% respectively.
Local and small-to-medium-sized banks are launching large-denomination certificates of deposit (CDs), focusing on short-to-medium-term products. Recently, major state-owned banks and several joint-stock banks have resumed issuing 5-year large-denomination CDs, while local small and medium banks have also been actively issuing new CDs. The interest rates on CDs from smaller banks are notably more competitive, but the longest product term is three years, with the overall focus on short-to-medium-term products. On August 3, Shanghai Huarui Bank announced via its WeChat public account that it was issuing a limited number of large-denomination CDs, warning that "capacity is limited, first come, first served." The bank's current offering is a 3-year personal large-denomination CD with a minimum deposit of 200,000 yuan and an annualized interest rate of 1.90%.
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