A-share Market Open Brief | All Three Major Indices Open Lower; Precious Metals and Communication Equipment Lead Declines

On October 23, the Shanghai Composite Index opened 0.94% lower at 3,623.57 points, the Shenzhen Component Index opened 1.49% lower at 11,187.55 points, and the ChiNext Index opened 1.66% lower at 2,534.16 points. The STAR 50 opened 1.38% lower at 1,287.87 points. As of 9:33, a total of 337 stocks in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets were up, 5,167 were down, and 73 were flat. Top gainers: A small number of sectors including seasoning and fermented products, film and cinema chains, baijiu, and publishing edged slightly into the green, with gains generally within 0.4%; top decliners: precious metals, communication equipment, AMD concept, components, nonferrous metals, optical communications, CPO concept, semiconductors, etc. Market Overview All four major indices opened lower, with the growth side of the Shenzhen market falling noticeably more than the Shanghai market. After the open, the two markets continued to weaken. As of 9:33, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.23% to 3,613.14 points, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 1.56% to 11,179.75 points, the ChiNext Index fell 1.65% to 2,534.48 points, and the STAR 50 fell 2.11% to 1,278.34 points, with its decline widening to the largest among the four major indices. Structurally, only a small number of sectors such as seasoning and fermented products, film and cinema chains, baijiu, and publishing remained slightly in the green, while non-baijiu, joint-stock banks, and banks turned lower after intraday gains; precious metals, communication equipment, components, optical communications, CPO concept, AMD concept, and semiconductors were among the biggest decliners, with precious metals falling the most, consistent with the direction of concentrated pullbacks in high-level themes from the previous trading day. Across the entire market, only 337 stocks rose and 5,167 fell, with 9 hitting the limit up and 7 hitting the limit down, and advancers accounting for about 6%. Overnight News at a Glance U.S. stocks diverged, Nasdaq fell 2.6%: On October 22, the three major U.S. indices diverged, with the Dow up 0.02%, the Nasdaq down 2.6%, and the S&P 500 down 1.21%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed down 6.72%, led by memory and chip stocks, with Intel, SanDisk, and SK Hynix falling more than 8%, and AMD falling more than 8%. London spot gold fell 2.79% to $4,024.33/oz, and the NYMEX WTI crude oil front-month contract rose 2.01% to $99.10/barrel. New outbound investment rules to take effect in December: The National Development and Reform Commission on October 22 published a new version of the "Administrative Measures for Outbound Investment," totaling 76 articles, effective December 1, with the 2017 version of the "Administrative Measures for Overseas Investment by Enterprises" repealed simultaneously. Data for the same period showed that actual use of foreign capital nationwide from January to September was 548.81 billion yuan, down 4.3% year on year, while September alone rose 2.5% year on year. Semiconductor packaging and testing capacity expansion accelerates: JCET Group Co., Ltd. disclosed on the evening of October 22 that its board of directors approved an increase in its 2026 investment plan from 11.01 billion yuan to 18.20 billion yuan, of which fixed asset investment was raised from 9.98 billion yuan to 17.31 billion yuan; the company has received approval from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, which in principle agreed to its private placement plan to raise no more than 6.5 billion yuan. The pace of capacity expansion in the packaging and testing segment is accelerating, in contrast to the sharp overnight pullback in overseas chip stocks. Trend Assessment The sharp decline in overseas tech stocks directly weighed on growth sectors, and the intraday widening of the STAR 50's decline to the largest among the four major indices is a reflection of this. On the policy front, the Financial Street Holdings forum has announced the registration of the first batch of 18 active ETFs, and the People's Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission plan to set up a liquidity support tool to address large redemptions by non-bank institutions, but it will take time for this to feed through to the market. From a capital flow perspective, advancers accounted for only about 6% of the entire market, and the money-making effect is at a low level; lower-level sectors such as seasoning and fermented products, baijiu, and film and cinema chains were relatively resilient, indicating that some existing funds have turned defensive, but the banking sector has also weakened in tandem, and defensive sectors have not formed a concerted force. In terms of direction, the Shanghai Composite Index may see repeated tug-of-war around 3,600 points, mainly digesting through range-bound trading; the linkage between precious metals and internationally priced instruments still needs to be observed, and a short-term repair of sentiment depends on volume support.