Tech stocks sentiment recovers, ChiNext Index rises over 2%

On March 18, the major A-share indices collectively rebounded, with renewed enthusiasm for technology themes such as storage chips and commercial aerospace, driving the ChiNext Index up by over 2%. By the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was at 4,062.98 points, up 0.32%; the Shenzhen Component Index at 14,187.80 points, up 1.05%; the ChiNext Index at 3,346.37 points, up 2.02%; and the STAR Market Composite Index at 1,729.12 points, up 1.77%. The combined trading volume of Shanghai and Shenzhen markets was 2.046 trillion yuan, about 160 billion yuan less than the previous day.

Storage Chip Concept Continues to Show Strength

The storage chip concept was the hottest sector yesterday, with related stocks hitting daily limit-ups in the afternoon, to some extent boosting market sentiment. As the leading stock in this round of storage chip rally, Beiwei Storage surged over 10% intraday and closed up 9.46%, hitting a new high for the stock price. Since the beginning of the year, its share price has increased by 125%, with a market cap reaching 120.6 billion yuan. Other concept stocks such as Tongyou Technology, Shenke Da, and Langke Technology also hit 20% daily limit-ups.

On the news front, yesterday Alibaba Cloud and Baidu Intelligent Cloud announced product price adjustments on their official websites. Alibaba Cloud stated that due to the explosive global demand for AI and rising supply chain costs, the procurement costs for core industry hardware have increased significantly. After careful assessment, they decided to adjust prices for AI computing power, CPFS (Intelligent Computing Edition), and other services starting April 18, 2026. The price of “Pingtou Ge Zhenwu 810E and related computing cards” will increase by 5% to 34%, and the CPFS (Intelligent Computing Edition) storage service will see a 30% price hike.

The Price Monitoring Center of the National Development and Reform Commission recently issued a statement indicating that since September 2025, driven by explosive demand growth and a sharp shortage of capacity, the global memory market gap has widened, and storage chip prices have continued to rise. Surveys show that as of January this year, the prices of the two main storage products, DRAM and NAND flash, reached new highs not seen since 2016.

The Price Monitoring Center believes that storage chip prices are currently in an upward cycle. In the short term, driven by the continuous growth in demand for AI server computing power, the global storage chip market will remain tight, and prices are expected to continue rising. The increase in storage chip prices is gradually passing through to consumer electronic devices.

Commercial Aerospace Concept Rebounds

After a period of dormancy, the commercial aerospace and space computing concepts have recently heated up again. Shunhao Co., Ltd. hit the daily limit yesterday, achieving two consecutive limit-ups, with companies like Xice Testing, Aohong Electronics, Dayuan Pump, and Guanghe Technology also hitting daily limits.

At the GTC 2026 conference held this week, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang announced that NVIDIA is developing and deploying a space-based data center computer called “Vera Rubin Space-1,” which will bring data center-level AI computing capabilities to satellites and orbital data centers. He emphasized its focus on on-orbit inference, real-time geospatial intelligence, and autonomous space missions.

CITIC Securities research reports indicate that around 2026, the commercial space industry will reach a critical turning point from “technology verification” to “mass industrialization.” With the large-scale launches of China’s StarNet and G60 Qianfan Constellation, as well as the commercial deployment of Hainan commercial launch vehicles, the trend toward increased capacity and lower costs will usher in a new era for the industry. Space computing will further expand industry potential, with progress in lunar exploration, deep space exploration, and space tourism continuing to open new opportunities.

Institutions: Firmly Supporting the “Technology + Going Global” Mainline

Since March, influenced by the Middle East geopolitical situation, global capital markets have experienced increased volatility. The A-share market has also shown a clear style shift, with cyclical sectors like oil & gas and chemicals surging significantly, while technology stocks underperformed. Some institutions believe that although geopolitical risks in the Middle East remain, it is unlikely that cyclical stocks will dominate in a one-sided manner in the future. The “Technology + Going Global” theme may still be the most solid fundamental mainline.

Lin Rongxiong, Chief Strategy Analyst at Guotou Securities, stated in a research report that recent A-share market features significant risk aversion and cyclical rotation. The energy sector has been one of the few to rise against the trend, highlighting its defensive and event-driven trading characteristics in the short term. From a macro perspective, geopolitical risks and inflation have replaced micro-level corporate fundamentals as the main drivers of market trends.

He added, “We do not agree with the current dominant trend favoring cyclical stocks over technology stocks. More accurately, the ‘new and old dance together’ is a more precise and effective structural allocation theme.” He pointed out that the global pricing of resource commodities driven by geopolitical factors is highly volatile after reaching high levels. Additionally, recent performance of Hong Kong stocks shows that after significant adjustments, technology stocks have attracted short-term rebound funds due to revaluation of AI investment logic, low valuations, and the performance of some leading stocks. Meanwhile, the industrial sector will benefit from the global energy supply chain restructuring and policy expectations, supporting further growth opportunities.