China's equity market staged a midday recovery on Friday, with the three main indices reversing earlier losses and finishing the first half of trading in positive territory. The Shanghai Composite closed up 0.11%, the Shenzhen Component rose 0.65%, and the ChiNext board also gained 0.65%, after an intraday slide that at one point exceeded 1%.
Trading volume eased slightly: combined turnover across Shanghai and Shenzhen stood at ¥1.38 trillion, about ¥63.3 billion lower than the previous session. Market breadth was wide, with more than 3,800 stocks rising, but leadership was concentrated in a handful of cyclical and tech-related themes rather than in consumer-oriented sectors.
The chemical sector led the rally, with a string of stocks hitting the daily limit-up including Cangzhou Dahua, Jinniu Chemical, Baichuan Shares and Baihehua. Investors also piled into concept plays tied to humanoid robotics — Five Continents New Spring, Liancheng Precision and Tianqi Co. reached trading limits — reflecting growing speculative interest in AI- and automation-adjacent hardware names.
Commodities-sensitive sectors showed signs of life too: non-ferrous metals rebounded, sending Hunan Gold and Xianglu Tungsten to the upside, while optical-communications and traditional Chinese medicine themes staged recoveries, the former illustrated by Hangdian’s aggressive run of gains. By contrast, broad consumer names underperformed, with alcohol producers and travel & hotel stocks among the heaviest decliners; Huangtai Brewery hit a limit down and Dalian Sunya touched the daily lower bound.
The market picture is one of rotation rather than uniform optimism. Funds and traders appear to be reallocating from consumption and services into industrial, chemical and tech-hardware exposures — sectors that stand to benefit from commodity momentum or any renewed emphasis on infrastructure and manufacturing. At the same time, the dip in turnover suggests participants remain cautious and selective, awaiting clearer macro cues.
For investors the immediate takeaway is that breadth masks uneven sector dynamics: a broad advance driven by pockets of speculative and commodity-led buying can quickly reverse if risk sentiment shifts. Policymakers and market watchers will likely focus on upcoming economic data, commodity price trends and any central-bank or fiscal signals that could either reinforce the rotation into cyclicals or restore momentum to consumer-facing equities.