Afternoon report: Shanghai Composite Index dips then rebounds, slightly turning positive; pharmaceutical sector continues its strength; commercial aerospace concept fluctuates and gains momentum.

Translated from: Caixin News

I. 【Morning trading surface review】

Caixin News, March 30 — In the early market, prices bottomed out and rebounded. The Shanghai Composite Index rose and turned positive. After having fallen by more than 1% earlier, the declines in the ChiNext Index and the Shenzhen Component Index narrowed noticeably. In the first half of the day, the turnover of the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets totaled 1.32 trillion yuan, an increase of 180.3 billion yuan versus the previous trading day. On the board, hot themes rotated quickly, and more than 2,700 stocks across the market fell. By sector, the pharmaceutical sector repeatedly remained active. Meinuohua hit 6 straight boards in 7 days, while Tianjin Pharmaceutical, and Lianhuan Pharmaceutical both hit 2 straight boards. The commercial spaceflight concept rebounded after bottoming out. Shenjian Co. hit 3 straight boards, and Zengsheng Technology hit 3 boards in 4 days; Aerospace Power and Zhongheng Design both closed at the daily limit. In the agriculture stocks, early trading saw a rapid rally: Jinjian Industry and Beidahuang, and Xinnong Development all hit the daily limit. In the non-ferrous · aluminum direction, the sector strengthened collectively: Minfa Aluminum, Changlv Co., and Tianshan Aluminum all hit the daily limit. On the downside, power stocks tumbled sharply. Huadian Energy and JinKong Electric both closed at the daily limit lower; Yinxing Energy and Henan Energy Holding and others also touched the limit down. By the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.23%, the Shenzhen Component Index was down 0.12%, and the ChiNext Index was down 0.5%.

Looking at individual stocks, today’s early-session limit-up count was 45 (excluding ST and new shares that had not opened). The board-closure rate was 80%. There were 10 stocks with consecutive limit-ups. Meinuohua had 5 straight limit-ups, and Shenjian Co. had 3 straight limit-ups. Also: Faiersheng, China Agricultural United, Tianjin Pharmaceutical, Lianhuan Pharmaceutical, Weiyuan Shares, Guiguang Network, Sully Shares, Hangdian Shares all hit 2 straight limit-ups.

Agriculture planting sector led in gains. Xinnong Development and Beidahuang hit the daily limit. Suqian Agriculture Development, Xinsai Shares, Agricultural Development and Fengyuan seed industry and others saw gains leading the way.

Goldman Sachs said that for the agricultural market, the bigger risk may come from a decline in crop yields, not just rising input costs. Fertilizer shortages could lead to reduced output due to delayed or improper fertilizing, and some farmers may turn to crops with lower fertilizer intensity, further tightening grain supply.

The innovative drugs sector continued its strong momentum. Meinuohua, Asia-Pacific Pharmaceuticals, Shuanglu Pharmaceutical, Lianhuan Pharmaceutical, and others hit the daily limit. Haitai Bio, Sansheng Guojian, Saili Medical, Baiyang Pharmaceutical and others saw leading gains.

CMB International pointed out that the biopharmaceutical industry’s positioning has risen to an emerging pillar industry, indicating that policy dividends across the whole chain will continue to be released. Breakthroughs in AI drug discovery technology and the surge in China’s innovative drug overseas BD create a dual resonance, and the industry’s fundamentals are expected to accelerate toward improvement. At present, cooperation for China’s innovative drug overseas expansion has upgraded from single-pipeline licensing to platform-level collaboration. Multinational pharma companies’ recognition of China’s pharmaceutical R&D strength is being systematically enhanced.

Commercial spaceflight concept stocks surged with volatility. Zengsheng Technology, Shenjian Co., Aerospace Power, and Zhongheng Design hit the daily limit. Suojie Shares, Xice Testing, Yangtze Communications, Zhongtian Technology, and Firecom Communications and others saw leading gains.

On the news front, the chairman of Xinghe Power stated that Xinghe Power’s launch orders have been scheduled through 2028, and the task backlog is full. The liquid reusable rocket Zhishenxing No. 1 will also achieve its first flight soon. In addition, according to reports, SpaceX, a major player in commercial spaceflight, plans to secretly submit its first-ever public offering prospectus to regulatory authorities in the near term. The target is to list in June. This IPO is expected to become the largest first-time public offering in history.

The non-ferrous · aluminum direction also strengthened. Minfa Aluminum, Changlv Shares, and Tianshan Aluminum hit the daily limit; Yunlv Shares, Zhongfu Industrial, Nanshan Aluminum, China Aluminum, and others followed suit.

On the news front, according to reports, Iran used missiles and drones to “effectively” strike aluminum plants in the UAE and Bahrain that are linked to the United States. Spurred by this news, LME aluminum prices rose 5% after Iran’s attack on factories in the Middle East. In addition, Tianshan Aluminum issued an announcement estimating that in Q1 2026, the net profit attributable to shareholders will be 2.2 billion yuan, up 107.92% year over year.

Overall, in early trading today, the market bottomed out and rebounded. The Shanghai Composite Index turned positive first, and trading volume also increased. Among them, the innovative drugs theme continued to show strength, with Meinuohua as a popular core seeing 6 boards in 7 days. Agriculture stocks were among the leaders in gains. Commercial spaceflight, non-ferrous metals, and precious metals also saw strength with intraday volatility. This once again demonstrated strong follow-through momentum. However, it is worth noting that the prior popular track’s green power sector saw a collective pullback, which may reflect that the market still mainly focuses on switching between high and low rotation; pay close attention to the rotation rhythm.

Intraday limit-up analysis chart

II. 【Market news focus】

1. China will build a high-speed rail line under the Yangtze River. The total investment in the along-the-river high-speed rail exceeds 500 billion yuan. It will drive value-added growth of nearly 1.5 trillion yuan in upstream and downstream industries.

Right now, at the Yangtze River estuary where it flows into the sea, large cargo ships travel back and forth constantly, and the “golden waterway” is bustling. Under the river surface, the “15th Five-Year Plan to 15th Five-Year Plan” major project—the flagship project of the along-the-river high-speed rail—is speeding up construction. At a point 89 meters below the Yangtze River, the world’s largest-diameter high-speed rail tunnel boring machine is accelerating excavation here. The outline of the “15th Five-Year Plan to 15th Five-Year Plan” will connect the high-standard along-the-river high-speed rail corridor and include it in 109 major projects. It will extend from Shanghai all the way to Chengdu, linking three major city clusters, stretching for about 2,000 kilometers. By building tunnels and bridges, it will drive R&D and custom production of more than 200 sets of large equipment such as tunnel boring machines and bridge builders. Laying railway tracks will bring 5.7 million tons of high-strength special steel sales orders. Even concrete precast components used for assembling tunnels will create an intelligent manufacturing plant. Total investment in the along-the-river high-speed rail is over 500 billion yuan. Estimates suggest it will drive value-added growth of nearly 1.5 trillion yuan across upstream and downstream industries. A new economic corridor is also accelerating its formation.

2. The world’s largest-diameter high-speed rail tunnel boring machine “Linghang” has completed 23 months of safe tunneling and successfully “reached land.”

On March 29, our country’s independently developed world’s largest-diameter high-speed rail tunnel boring machine “Linghang” successfully completed the 11.18-kilometer construction task under the Yangtze River. It has taken a further step closer to precisely arriving at the No. 2 vertical shaft “Inspection Station.” Since it started from Chongming Island in Shanghai on April 29, 2024, “Linghang” has undergone 23 months of safe tunneling, crossing the embankment on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and has successfully arrived at Taicang, Jiangsu, completing the “arrival.”

(Caixin News)

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