On March 18 local time, renewed U.S. inflationary pressures further constrained the Federal Reserve's scope for interest rate cuts. Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that both the month-on-month and year-on-year increases in the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for February rebounded significantly, driven by rising service prices, indicating a resurgence of inflation. Consequently, the U.S. dollar index climbed above 100, putting downward pressure on precious metals such as gold and silver.
The Federal Reserve also announced it would keep interest rates unchanged during its policy meeting that day, a decision in line with market expectations. Fed Chair Powell noted during Wednesday's press conference that the decline in U.S. inflation has not met expectations. The surge in oil prices resulting from Middle East geopolitical tensions could ultimately exert downward pressure on consumption and employment while simultaneously pushing inflation higher, which would undoubtedly strain the U.S. economy.
Citic Securities pointed out that following historical Middle East conflicts, the medium-term trend of gold prices still depends on factors related to the U.S. dollar's credibility and liquidity. Looking ahead at the current conflict, the continuation of loose liquidity and weakening U.S. dollar credibility is expected to continue driving gold prices higher. Historically, valuation advantages or low stock price percentiles have amplified the upside potential of the gold sector. Currently, the leading companies' PE valuations have fallen to a historical low of 15-20x. Considering the high synchronization between recent stock price peaks and gold price peaks, there is optimism that new highs in gold prices could drive new highs in stock prices.
In market performance, major A-share indices retreated across the board on March 19. The Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876), which comprehensively covers leading companies in gold, rare earths, copper, aluminum, and other nonferrous metals sectors, followed the market trend. Its on-market price plunged 6%, marking the seventh consecutive day of declines and falling back to levels seen in early January this year. This may present a dip-buying opportunity for funds optimistic about the future performance of the nonferrous metals sector.
Among the constituent stocks, all 60 stocks declined. Guocheng Mining and Chihong Zinc & Germanium fell over 9%, while Xingye Silver & Tin, Yongxing Materials, and China Molybdenum dropped more than 8%, leading the losses and dragging down the index performance.
[Nonferrous Metals Sector Momentum Arrives, "Super Cycle" Appears Unstoppable] The Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876) and its feeder funds (Class A: 017140, Class C: 017141) track a benchmark index that comprehensively covers industries such as copper, aluminum, gold, rare earths, and lithium. It encompasses different cyclical phases: precious metals (hedging), strategic metals (growth), and industrial metals (recovery). This full-category coverage allows for better capture of the sector's overall beta trends. Additionally, this ETF is a margin trading security, making it an efficient tool for one-click allocation to the nonferrous metals sector.
As of the end of February, the Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876) had a latest size of 2.427 billion yuan, with an average daily turnover exceeding 100 million yuan over the past month. Among the three ETF products tracking the same benchmark index in the market, it ranks first in both size and liquidity.
Note: The previous on-market abbreviation for the Nonferrous Metals ETF (159876) was Leading Nonferrous Metals ETF. ETF fee-related information: When subscribing for or redeeming fund shares, subscription and redemption agents may charge a commission of up to 0.5%. On-market trading fees are subject to the actual charges by securities firms. The ETF does not charge a sales service fee. Feeder fund fee-related information: For the ChinaAMC CSI Nonferrous Metals ETF Feeder Fund (Class A), the subscription fee rate is 1,000 RMB per subscription for amounts of 2 million RMB (inclusive) or above, 0.6% for amounts between 1 million RMB (inclusive) and 2 million RMB, and 1% for amounts below 1 million RMB. The redemption fee rate is 1.5% for holding periods under 7 days and 0% for holding periods of 7 days (inclusive) or more; no sales service fee is charged. The ChinaAMC CSI Nonferrous Metals ETF Feeder Fund (Class C) does not charge a subscription fee. The redemption fee rate is 1.5% for holding periods under 7 days and 0% for holding periods of 7 days (inclusive) or more; the sales service fee is 0.3%. Risk warning: The Nonferrous Metals ETF passively tracks the CSI Nonferrous Metals Index. The base date for this index is December 31, 2013, and it was published on July 13, 2015. The index's performance over the past five complete years is as follows: 2021, +35.89%; 2022, -19.22%; 2023, -10.43%; 2024, +2.96%; 2025, +91.67%. The index's constituent stocks are adjusted according to its compilation rules, and its historical backtested performance is not indicative of its future performance. The index constituents mentioned herein are for display purposes only; descriptions of individual stocks do not constitute investment advice in any form nor represent the holdings or trading动向 of any fund managed by the manager. The fund manager assesses this fund's risk等级 as R3 - Medium Risk, suitable for Balanced (C3) and above investors. Suitability matching opinions should be based on the sales institution. Any information appearing in this article is for reference only, and investors are responsible for any independent investment decisions. Furthermore, any views, analysis, or forecasts herein do not constitute investment advice of any kind to readers, and no liability is accepted for any direct or indirect losses arising from the use of this content. Fund investment carries risks; past performance of a fund is not indicative of its future performance. The performance of other funds managed by the fund manager does not guarantee the performance of this fund. Fund investment should be undertaken cautiously.
MACD golden cross signals have formed, and these stocks are performing well.
Comments