Lithium mining concept stocks surged, with multiple companies hitting the daily limit upward. This followed an emergency statement from Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Mines and Mining Development announcing an immediate suspension of all exports of raw lithium ore and lithium concentrate.
On February 26, A-shares experienced volatile declines, with the three major indices collectively trending lower in early trading. The ChiNext Index fell nearly 1%, while salt lake lithium extraction and lithium mining concept stocks rallied. Semiconductor and photovoltaic sectors underwent adjustments. Hong Kong stocks also retreated, with the Hang Seng Tech Index declining nearly 1%, and most technology and internet stocks recording losses.
In the bond market, treasury futures fell across the board. In commodities, most domestic commodity futures rose, with lithium carbonate continuing its strong advance, currently up over 5%. In the foreign exchange market, the offshore yuan strengthened past the 6.84 level, reaching a high of 6.8384.
Key market movements:
A-shares: As of writing, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.23%, the Shenzhen Component Index declined 0.35%, and the ChiNext Index dropped 1.14%.
Hong Kong stocks: As of writing, the Hang Seng Index decreased 0.08%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.96%.
Bond market: Treasury futures were broadly lower. As of writing, the 30-year main contract fell 0.29%, the 10-year main contract dropped 0.10%, the 5-year main contract declined 0.06%, and the 2-year main contract edged down 0.01%.
Commodities: Most domestic commodity futures advanced. As of writing, lithium carbonate rose over 5%, Shanghai tin increased 4%, platinum and fuel oil gained over 2%, and Shanghai silver rose over 1%. Stainless steel, rapeseed, Shanghai aluminum, alumina, rebar, hot-rolled coil, soybean meal, Shanghai copper, coke, rubber, eggs, iron ore, and Shanghai gold also moved higher.
At 09:57, ultra-hard materials concept stocks saw volatile gains. Huanghe Cyclone recorded two limit-up moves in three days, while S.F.D. rose over 10%. Others including Liliang Diamond, Wald, Bomi, and HuiFeng Diamond followed upward.
In related news, on February 23, Akash Systems announced the delivery of the world’s first NVIDIA GPU servers equipped with Diamond Cooling technology to Indian sovereign cloud service provider NxtGen AI Pvt Ltd. Based on the NVIDIA H200 platform, this marks the first commercial application of diamond thermal conduction technology in AI server systems, representing an innovative breakthrough at the material level.
At 09:43, the offshore yuan rose over 100 points against the U.S. dollar during the session, approaching the 6.84 level and reaching a high of 6.8421.
At 09:40, the power sector was active in early trading, with green power stocks leading gains. Gan Energy achieved two consecutive limit-ups, while Funeng, Hunan Huayin, Mindong, Jinkai, and China Southern Grid Energy followed the upward trend.
This movement followed a recent National Energy Administration report on renewable energy grid integration in 2025, which indicated that China added 452 million kilowatts of renewable energy generation capacity that year, a 21% year-on-year increase, accounting for 83% of the country’s new power capacity.
At 09:37, the ChiNext Index fell over 1%. Photovoltaic, real estate, and glass fiber sectors were among the top decliners, with nearly 2,900 stocks across the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing exchanges recording losses.
At 09:28, lithium mining stocks led gains at the open. Jinyuan Stock hit the daily limit during the call auction, while Corun, Jiangte, Dazhong, Rongjie, Guocheng, and Tianhua each rose over 6%.
At 09:26, the Shanghai Composite Index opened 0.09% higher, while the ChiNext Index fell 0.24%. Non-ferrous metals, chemicals, and steel were among the top gainers, with stablecoin, server, and CPO concept stocks showing activity. Oil and gas, photovoltaic, and satellite navigation themes weakened.
At 09:21, the Hang Seng Index opened 0.95% higher, and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.46%. Tianqi Lithium gained over 6%, while Ganfeng Lithium advanced over 5%.
At 09:01, commodity futures opened with the lithium carbonate main contract up over 11%, Shanghai tin rising over 5%, and platinum and Shanghai silver increasing over 2%. Fuel oil, aluminum alloy, liquefied gas, and Shanghai aluminum each rose over 1%. Container shipping futures for European routes fell over 3%.
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