On April 16, the A-share market rebounded collectively, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising by 0.7%, the Shenzhen Component Index climbing 2.05% to hit a more than four-year high, and the ChiNext Index surging 3.17% to reach an over 11-year high. The total trading volume of the market amounted to 2.36 trillion yuan, representing a decrease of 74.5 billion yuan compared to the previous trading day, with nearly 4,300 stocks posting gains.
In terms of sector performance, CATL’s Q1 earnings showed significant growth, driving up lithium mining stocks, with Tibet Mineral Development Co., Ltd. hitting the daily limit. The minor metals sector strengthened, with Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group Co., Ltd. also hitting the daily limit. The computing power concept remained active, with multiple stocks including Tellhow Tech experiencing涨停 (a price surge to the upper limit). The telecommunications services sector gained momentum, as evidenced by China Beikong Communication Co., Ltd. and several other stocks hitting涨停. Cloud gaming, titanium dioxide, battery, and steel sectors led the gains. On the downside, the aquaculture sector declined, with Tianbang Foods dropping over 6%. Additionally, oil and gas extraction and service, pharmaceutical commerce, and banking sectors underperformed.
Specifically:
The concept of computing power leasing remained highly active, with Jinhua Stock, Pingao Stock, and Hongjing Technology all experiencing涨停 (a price surge to the upper limit). Changxin Technology surged over 14%, Xiechuang Data climbed over 13%, and Runjian Stock recorded涨停 (a price surge to the upper limit) on three out of seven days.
On the news front, a wave of computing power price hikes is sweeping across the globe, with domestic and international giants initiating a new round of price adjustments. Alibaba Cloud issued three consecutive product price hike announcements within four days, adjusting the pricing for certain model units in its Bailian platform and revising the free quota for certain APIs in DataWorks. Since entering 2026, global demand for computing power has grown rapidly, with a steep growth curve. In April, the weekly cumulative Token consumption on OpenRouter, the world’s largest API aggregation platform, increased approximately 7-8 times compared to a year ago, driven primarily by domestically produced large-scale models.
The telecommunications services sector gained strength, with China Beikong Communication and Meili Cloud both hitting涨停 (a price surge to the upper limit), while Century Hengtong, Zhongjia Broadcast, and Tongniu Information rose over 5%.
The film and cinema line sector posted notable gains, with Huayi Brothers hitting涨停 (a price surge to the upper limit), Huazhi Digital Media rising over 5%, Jinyi Film, Huace Film & TV, and Bona Film Group gaining over 3%, and Hengdian Film, Bainqiancheng, Jiecheng Stock, Huanrui Century, and Happiness Blue Ocean increasing over 2%.
On the evening of April 15, Huayi Brothers announced that it had received a ‘Notification Letter’ from its creditor, Beijing Tairui Feike Technology Co., Ltd. Tairui Feike, citing the company’s inability to repay maturing debts and evident lack of repayment capacity but possessing restructuring value, filed an application with the Intermediate People’s Court of Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, requesting a judicial ruling to restructure Huayi Brothers and seeking pre-restructuring proceedings.
The minor metals sector performed strongly, with Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd. and Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group Co., Ltd. both hitting涨停 (a price surge to the upper limit), Zhangyuan Tungsten rising over 7%, Xianglu Tungsten and Zhongkuang Resources gaining over 6%, and Yunnan Tin, Zhongxi Rare Metals, and Shenghe Resources following suit.
The lithium mining concept gained momentum, with Tibet Mineral Development Co., Ltd. hitting涨停 (a price surge to the upper limit), Tibet Summit Resources climbing 8%, Shengxin Lithium Energy rising over 7%, and Sichuan Energy Dynamics, Tianqi Lithium, and Ganfeng Lithium following closely.
On the news front, CATL’s reported earnings revealed that the company achieved revenue of 129.131 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026, representing a year-on-year increase of 52.45%, while net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company amounted to 20.738 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year rise of 48.52%. Citi noted that CATL’s first-quarter net profit growth was in line with its expectations but slightly exceeded market forecasts, anticipating an upward revision to consensus estimates. Citi reiterated CATL as its top pick and maintained a target price of 576 yuan for its A-shares.
The titanium dioxide sector saw gains, with Kuncai Technology hitting the daily price limit. Guocheng Mining surged over 7%, while Zhenhua Shares rose more than 6%. Annada, Huiyun Titanium Industry, Vanadium Titanium Shares, Jinpu Titanium Industry, and Longbai Group all posted increases.
Travel and hotel stocks performed strongly, with Tibet Tourism and Lijiang Shares closing at their daily limit. Xi’an Tourism surged over 7%, Guilin Tourism gained more than 4%, while Three Gorges Tourism, Yunnan Tourism, and Qujiang Cultural Tourism followed with gains.
In terms of news updates, Zhongxin Tourism released a report on May Day travel trends, showing that as of April 16, platform bookings for tourism products had grown by 53% year-on-year in GMV, while product diversity increased by 150% compared to the same period last year. Both domestic and visa-free international destinations are still attracting travelers, with an expected record of over 20,000 customers for Zhongxin Tourism during the May Day holiday in 2026.
The pharmaceutical commerce sector experienced notable declines, with United Fortune China falling over 5%, Shuyu People’s Pharmacy dropping more than 4%, Chongqing Pharmaceutical Holdings, Sail Medical, and Renmin Tongtai shedding over 3%, while Haiwang Bio, Nanjing Pharmaceuticals, and China Pharmaceuticals also recorded losses.
The aquaculture sector weakened, with Tianbang Foodstuff and Xiaoming Shares plunging over 6%, Zhengbang Technology down over 2%, and Zhongmu Shares, Tianyu Bio, and Jingji Zhinong declining more than 1%.
Some adjustments were seen in the oil and gas sector, with Blue Flame Holdings and Tongyuan Petroleum falling over 2%, while Zhunyou Shares, Kelit Shares, Bomatec, and Beiken Energy dropped more than 1%.
Banking shares generally declined, with CITIC Bank, Hangzhou Bank, Chongqing Bank, Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, and Ping An Bank all dropping over 1%.
Looking ahead, Guosen Securities noted that a temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has been achieved, and negotiations are set to begin. Although easing geopolitical tensions may not happen overnight and could see periodic setbacks, market adjustments in both time and magnitude have already aligned. With accumulating positive factors internally and externally, markets are poised for an upward turning point in April. In positioning for a rebound, technology growth sectors may offer better opportunities. As risk appetite recovers, technology-driven industries with upward momentum will exhibit greater elasticity. Earlier, geopolitical uncertainties weighed on market sentiment, pressuring tech growth sectors, with A-share electronics and computing industries among the hardest hit. Currently, AI industry trends continue to rise, with domestic models like Deepseek, Qwen, and Kimi reaching globally competitive levels of intelligence. AI Agents are now serving as bridges between large models and industrial applications, accelerating the progress of AI adoption. Combined with the gradual easing of tensions in the Middle East and a recovery in market sentiment, active capital is likely to return. Technology growth sectors that saw significant declines in March could show greater resilience as markets transition from defense to offense. Attention should be given to AI applications, computing hardware, and upstream energy and power sectors.
