On Friday, June 12th, the nonferrous metals sector led the market higher, attracting net inflows of over 16.7 billion yuan in main funds throughout the day, ranking first among the 31 primary Shenwan industries in terms of capital attraction! Luoyang Molybdenum Co., Ltd. topped the list of A-share fund magnets with net main fund inflows of 2.936 billion yuan.
Among popular ETFs, the largest ETF by size tracking the same underlying index, Huabao Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876), surged over 7% intraday and closed up 5.15%. Its daily turnover reached 200 million yuan, a sharp increase of 117% from the previous day. The ETF successfully reclaimed its 10-day and 20-day moving averages, marking its fourth consecutive positive daily close.
The fervent market activity was accompanied by active capital inflows. Data shows that the Huabao Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876) received net subscriptions of 94.6 million units throughout the day.
Constituent stocks saw a wave of limit-up gains. Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co., Ltd., Luoyang Molybdenum Co., Ltd., Jinduicheng Molybdenum Co., Ltd., North Copper Co., Ltd., Hailiang Co., Ltd., Jintian Copper (Group) Co., Ltd., and Chihong Zinc & Germanium Co., Ltd. all hit the daily limit-up. Yunnan Tin Co., Ltd., Yunnan Copper Co., Ltd., and Jiangxi Copper Co., Ltd. touched the limit-up price during the session. Heavyweight stock Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. rose over 6%, while China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co., Ltd. and Aluminum Corporation of China Limited gained more than 4%.
Key Drivers Behind Today's Rally
The significant surge in the nonferrous metals sector today can be analyzed from three perspectives:
Macroeconomic Factors
U.S. President Trump signaled that a peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran is "close," leading to a retreat in geopolitical risk premiums and a significant recovery in risk appetite. Previously, the cooler-than-expected U.S. May CPI data significantly alleviated inflation pressures, prompting traders to reduce bets on Federal Reserve rate hikes, temporarily easing concerns about monetary tightening.
Industry-Specific Developments
A technological breakthrough in semiconductor materials has boosted sentiment. SK Hynix has completed production verification for 375-layer 3D NAND, with a key highlight being the use of molybdenum to replace traditional tungsten in word line production, sparking enthusiasm for the molybdenum industry chain. Furthermore, the application of AI liquid cooling continues to create new demand scenarios for copper. Hailiang Co., Ltd. showcased liquid cooling precision components, including diamond copper and high-performance microchannel cold plates, at the Shanghai International Data Center Industry Expo. The surging wave of AI industry development is making nonferrous metals crucial raw materials.
Corporate Performance
Revenue and net profit in the nonferrous metals industry are showing an accelerating upward trend. In the first quarter of 2026, the operating revenue for the nonferrous metals sector (CITIC primary industry) reached 11,443.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.5%, compared to 8.6% in Q1 2025. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 94.8 billion yuan, surging 109.7% year-on-year, compared to 67.3% in the same period of 2025.
Analysis suggests that the sustained and robust rise in nonferrous metal prices has accelerated the sector's earnings growth in Q1 2026, while overall industry valuations remain at historically low levels. As market sentiment gradually digests the Middle East geopolitical events, with U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiations progressing, uncertainties regarding economic and liquidity expectations are converging, and market risk appetite continues to recover. This is expected to support nonferrous metal prices returning to an upward trajectory, providing room for further improvement in industry earnings.
Positioning for the Metals Uptrend
The Huabao Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876) and its feeder funds (Class A: 017140, Class C: 017141) track a broad index comprehensively covering industries such as copper, aluminum, gold, rare earths, and lithium. This full-category coverage allows for better capture of the sector's overall beta performance. Additionally, this ETF is a margin trading and securities lending target, serving as an efficient tool for a one-click allocation to the nonferrous metals sector.
As of the end of May, the latest size of the Huabao Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876) exceeded 15 billion yuan, making it the largest ETF among the three products in the market tracking the same underlying index.
The Huabao Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876) passively tracks the CSI Nonferrous Metals Index. The base date for this index is December 31, 2013, and it was launched on July 13, 2015. The index constituents are adjusted according to its compilation rules, and its historical back-tested performance does not indicate future index performance. The index constituents mentioned in this article are for illustrative purposes only. Descriptions of individual stocks do not constitute any form of investment advice, nor do they represent the holdings or trading动向 of any fund managed by the fund manager. The fund manager assesses the risk level of this fund as R3 - Medium Risk, suitable for Balanced (C3) and above investors. The appropriateness matching opinion should be based on the sales institution. Any information appearing in this article (including but not limited to individual stocks,评论, forecasts, charts, indicators, theories, any form of表述, etc.) is for reference only. Investors are responsible for any independent investment decisions. Furthermore, any views, analysis, or forecasts in this article do not constitute investment advice of any kind to readers, nor do they bear any responsibility for direct or indirect losses arising from the use of this content. Fund investment involves risks. The past performance of a fund does not represent its future performance. The performance of other funds managed by the fund manager does not guarantee the performance of this fund. Caution is advised in fund investment.
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