On March 13, amid geopolitical uncertainties, both A-shares and Hong Kong markets experienced a broad correction, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling below 4100 points. Most sectors declined, and over 3,800 individual stocks dropped.
Despite the volatility, Bank of Hangzhou hit a new high against the trend, while the large-cap bank ETF (512800) quietly recorded four consecutive days of gains. The recent steady rise in banking stocks reflects renewed market confidence in the sector under current conditions.
The "inflation" theme has rotated to consumer staples, with food and beverage leading the gains. The Food and Beverage ETF (515710), which tracks the overall performance of the sector, rose more than 1% intraday and closed up 0.71%. This was likely driven by expectations of price increases for end-consumer goods due to rising raw material costs.
Previously popular concepts such as computing chips, commercial aerospace, and non-ferrous metals continued to correct. The ChiNext Artificial Intelligence ETF (159363) fell 1.84%, marking its third consecutive daily decline, yet attracted 52 million units of net inflows.
Huaxi Securities suggests that by 2026, the structural focus of A-shares may gradually shift from technology to inflation-driven sectors. Three key areas are worth watching: energy-related imported inflation; endogenous inflation driven by industries like chemicals and pork; and technology-driven price increases, including upstream segments of the AI computing chain.
Notably, within Hong Kong's broader decline, internet giants showed resilience. Alibaba and Tencent maintained gains throughout the session, with Alibaba-W rising over 2% at one point. The explosion of agent ecosystems, exemplified by OpenClaw, has driven rapid growth in token usage. The Hong Kong Internet ETF (513770), heavily weighted in internet leaders, stands to benefit directly from the acceleration in large model commercialization. For investors seeking lower volatility, the Hong Kong Large Cap 30 ETF (520560), which employs a "tech + dividend" barbell strategy, may also be worth considering.
**Food and Beverage Sector Rises Against the Trend** The food and beverage sector advanced despite the broader market decline. The Huabao Food and Beverage ETF (515710) rose quickly after opening and remained in positive territory, gaining up to 1.07% intraday before closing 0.71% higher.
Among its constituents, Adisseo surged over 6%, Chongqing Brewery rose more than 3%, while Luzhou Laojiao and Haitian Flavouring gained over 2%. Leading baijiu producers such as Kweichow Moutai, Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory, Wuliangye, and Yanghe Brewery also closed higher.
Industry data showed a slight increase in the national baijiu price index in early March, with the month-on-month index reaching 100.03. The fixed-base index rose to 106.19, indicating a 6.19% increase. Analysts note that while the post-holiday period typically sees slower activity, seasonal fluctuations do not alter the long-term positive trend for the baijiu sector, particularly for premium brands with strong demand.
Valuations in the food and beverage sector remain low. As of March 12, the price-to-earnings ratio of the Segmented Food Index, tracked by the Huabao Food and Beverage ETF (515710), stood at 19.37 times, near the 1.76 percentile of its 10-year range, highlighting attractive medium- to long-term value.
Hualong Securities indicates that current consumer sector valuations are at historically low levels, already reflecting subdued market expectations. Further pro-consumption policies could drive a valuation recovery.
**Agent Ecosystem Boosts Large Model Commercialization; Tencent Cloud Announces Price Hikes** Amid a broader Hong Kong market decline, the internet sector remained active. Alibaba-W and Tencent Holdings rose against the trend, with Alibaba-W gaining over 2% intraday. The Hong Kong Internet ETF (513770) traded mostly higher before closing down 0.22%, while the Hong Kong Large Cap 30 ETF (520560) edged up 0.12%.
Geopolitical tensions suggest prolonged uncertainty for Hong Kong markets. However, after significant corrections and rapid AI agent development, Hong Kong internet leaders may benefit from both valuation repair and industrial transformation.
In industry news, Tencent Cloud recently announced significant price increases for its Hunyuan series large model APIs, with some rates rising up to 463%. The expansion of agent ecosystems like OpenClaw has accelerated token usage, directly benefiting large model providers.
Guotou Securities notes that since late January, Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud have launched deployment solutions for OpenClaw, offering comprehensive capabilities in models, computing power, and interactive interfaces. Agent product iterations are creating substantial opportunities for large model and cloud service providers.
Upcoming earnings reports from Tencent Holdings and Alibaba-W in mid-to-late March may provide further catalysts, including updates on capital expenditure and policy implementation.
**GTC Conference Approaches; Funds Flow into AI ETFs Despite Decline** IDC computing leasing concepts led declines in the AI sector, with the ChiNext Artificial Intelligence Index falling for three consecutive days. Hand Information dropped over 10%, while Aofei Data, Capital Online, East China Information, and Guangguxinwang fell more than 7%. However, CPO leader Eoptolink rose 4% against the trend, and Zhongji Innolight gained over 1%.
The ChiNext Artificial Intelligence ETF (159363), heavily weighted in optical module leaders, fell 1.84% on reduced turnover of 462 million yuan, yet saw 52 million units of net inflows.
Eoptolink recently announced two key developments: the industry's first optical module equipped with Broadcom's 448G DSP, and the launch of a 12.8T XPO module designed for AI data center architectures.
Guosheng Securities highlights Broadcom's growing role as an XPU partner for supercomputing clients. In an era dominated by CSP capital expenditure, open architectures like ASIC/XPU and Ethernet are thriving amid rising AI inference demand. Eoptolink and other optical communication equipment providers are poised to benefit from increased interconnect demand.
The upcoming NVIDIA GTC conference, scheduled for March 16, is expected to showcase new GPU architectures and innovations in CPO, power supply, and liquid cooling. As the event approaches, computing hardware sectors have already seen increased activity, with further clarity expected on technology and commercialization roadmaps.
Investors can capture AI growth opportunities through the ChiNext Artificial Intelligence ETF (159363) and its feeder funds, which allocate approximately 60% to computing infrastructure and 40% to AI applications.
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