Shanghai Composite Index falls below 4,000 points, hitting a new low for the year; 70 billion computing power giants suddenly plunge during trading; silver prices plummet.

Reporters丨Zeng Jingjiao Yang Nana

Editor丨Liu Xueying

On March 20, the A-share market staged a gripping “4000-point defense battle.” After falling below the 4000-point mark yesterday, the bulls launched a strong counterattack today. By the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was down more than 1%, falling below 4000 points and hitting a new intra-year low; the STAR Market Composite Index was down 0.87%, the Shenzhen Component Index closed slightly lower, and the ChiNext Index rose 1.43%. Nearly 4600 stocks across the market declined.

Chart: 21 Finance Client

On the trading screen, concept stocks such as computing power leasing, financial technology, cybersecurity, AI applications, commercial aerospace, robots, and memory chips all tumbled. Solar photovoltaic and lithium battery themes, as well as CPO-related concepts, strengthened against the trend.

Looking in more detail, in the afternoon the downtrend in the computing power leasing concept widened. Among them, computing power giant Founder Data, with a market value of 70 billion, was approaching a 20cm daily limit-down, with the closing decline narrowing to 14.89%; U.S. Xuntong hit the daily limit-down, and Oriental Guoxin fell more than 12%. Daan Technology, Capital Online, Qingyun Technology, and many other stocks fell more than 8%.

Founder Data’s sharp drop may have been influenced by a short article about the company’s compliance regarding server procurement. Founder Data quickly issued an explanation regarding the server procurement compliance issue that investors were concerned about. Founder Data stated that some investors reported that certain overseas server manufacturers were involved in illegal transactions. In response, after careful verification, the company said that the relevant matter has no connection whatsoever to the company. The company’s intelligent computing power products are all purchased through compliant commercial channels, and the company always conducts its business in accordance with market rules and laws and regulations. At present, all of the company’s production and operations are normal, and its various businesses are progressing in an orderly manner.

The chemical sector fell, with NiuNiu Chemical, Lu Hua Technology, Jinzhengda, and Hongbaoli hitting the daily limit-down.

On the upside, the computing power hardware concept moved higher during the day. Yuanjie Technology hit a 20cm daily limit-up, and Xin Yisheng rose more than 8% to a new historical high.

The lithium mining concept quickly rebounded. Ganfeng Lithium once neared the daily limit-up. Dazhong Mining rose more than 8%; Tianhua Xinneng, Salt Lake Shares, Chuan Neng Power, and Guocheng Mining followed suit.

The power sector remained active repeatedly. Huadian Liaoneng achieved a fifth consecutive daily limit-up, ShaoNeng Co. reached a third consecutive daily limit-up, Huadian Energy hit two consecutive daily limit-ups, and YinXing Energy and Guangxi Energy hit the daily limit-up. The energy storage concept surged quickly. Shouhang Xinneng hit the daily limit-up and continued to set a new historical high, and Zhengtai Power rebounded to hit the daily limit-up.

After the Shanghai Composite Index broke below 4000 points, XinYuan Fund believed that** the main downward drivers are mostly external factors.** First, the escalation of the conflict between the U.S. and Iran has further intensified and spilled over from military confrontation to attacks on energy infrastructure, significantly raising global crude oil risk premium. Second, the Federal Reserve’s March FOMC meeting signaled a more hawkish stance, pushing expectations for global liquidity easing further out. Third, the market is concerned that a rise in oil prices will transmit to global inflation again, thereby suppressing risk appetite for equities—especially growth directions with high valuations.

Many institutions believe that in the short term, the market may be unable to return to a high risk-on preference state. China Europe Fund emphasized that, at present, investors should “maintain defensive characteristics,” seek defensiveness in dividend-style within stock assets, and pay attention to technologies hardware where fundamentals show a major improvement, such as memory, optical communications, and other computing power hardware.

In bulk commodities, the performances of gold and silver diverged. As of the time of this release, spot silver suddenly plunged, falling nearly 2% intraday and breaking below the $72 level. The main contract of Shanghai silver futures once fell more than 6%, and the current decline has narrowed to around 3.5%. Spot gold edged up 0.39%, approaching $4670 per ounce.

Global crude oil opened lower and fell further. As of the time of this release, WTI crude was down more than 1%, and ICE Brent was down about 0.5%.

Hong Kong stocks’ major indices were all drifting lower across the board. As of the time of this release, the Hang Seng Index was down more than 1%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell nearly 3%. Internet and tech stocks were collectively hit hard. Xiaomi Group and Alibaba fell more than 6%; JD.com and SMIC fell more than 3%; and Baidu and Meituan fell more than 2%. AI application concept stocks retreated, with MiniMax and Zhipu falling more than 5%.

(Statement: The article content is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors act at their own risk.)

Produced by丨21 Finance Client 21st Century Business Herald