At the opening bell today, the major A-share indices rose and fell. As of the close, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.49% to 2893 points, and once stood above 2900 points. The SZSE Component Index rose 0.08%, and the ChiNext Price Index fell 0.14%. Over 3100 stocks fell, with a total turnover of 570.6 billion yuan, a decrease of 20.5 billion yuan from the previous trading day.

Bank stocks continued to rise, with the bank index rising 26.66% year-to-date, ranking first in the A-share market.

The five major banks, including ICBC, ABC, CCB, BOC and Bank of Communications, reached new highs. In the banking sector, the banks that have risen the most year-to-date are Bank of Nanjing and Bank of Communications, with cumulative gains of 47% and 44%, respectively. Among the four major state-owned banks, ICBC rose 38% year-to-date, ABC rose 41% year-to-date, BOC rose 29% year-to-date, and CCB rose 30% year-to-date.

1

The latest actions of Dong Chengfei and Feng Liu

The holdings of top fund managers Dong Chengfei and Feng Liu in the second quarter have surfaced.

The RuJun Youfu 1st private equity fund managed by Dong Chengfei newly purchased 1.5273 million shares of semiconductor company Chipown Micro. The market value of the holding at the end of the second quarter was 0.056 billion. Chipown Micro is an important supplier of power management chips for smart home appliances, standard power sources, mobile digital and other industries. The semi-annual report data shows that the company's revenue for the first half of 2024 was 0.453 billion yuan, a YoY increase of 17.96%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 43.92 million yuan, a YoY decrease of 8.64%.

Dong Chengfei's private fund RuJun Youfu 1st and RuJun Youfu 3rd slightly reduced their holdings of Espressif Systems, with 2.9747 million shares at the end of the period and a total holding value of 0.294 billion.芯朋微is an important supplier of power management chips for industries such as smart home appliances, standard power sources, and mobile digital. The data in the semi-annual report shows that the company's revenue for the first half of 2024 was 0.453 billion yuan, a YoY increase of 17.96%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 43.92 million yuan, a YoY decrease of 8.64%.

The latest financial report of Hikvision was released recently. In the second quarter, Gao Yi Lingshan 1st Yuan Wang Fund, managed by Feng Liu, added 1 million shares of Hikvision. The total number of shares held at the end of the period was 0.412 billion, and the holding value was 12.735 billion yuan. In the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, Feng Liu's funds reduced their holdings of 24 million shares of Hikvision.

The stock price of Hikvision has continued to adjust in recent years, falling more than 20% this year, and the stock price is down 60% from the high of 67.94 yuan / share in July 2021.The semi-annual report of Hikvision shows that the revenue in the first half of the year was 41.21 billion yuan, a YoY increase of 9.68%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 5.064 billion yuan, a YoY decrease of 5.13%; and the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 5.243 billion yuan, a YoY increase of 4.11%.

Global turbulence drives safe-haven funds.

With the slowdown of global economic growth and the increasingly tense geopolitical situation, the once-unassuming Asian public utility sector has received a wave of safe-haven funds. Last week's data showed that the MSCI Asia-Pacific Utility Index has risen 14% year-to-date, and the index is challenging the largest annual increase in nearly 20 years. This year, the index ranks second among the 11 Asian classified indices, second only to technology stocks. Among them, the stock prices of Indian National Power and Kansai Electric Power of Japan have risen nearly or even exceeded 30% this year, while the stock prices of enterprises such as YTL of Malaysia Power Corporation, Torrent Power Company of India, and CGN Power Company of China have surged by more than 50%.

As of August 18, Feng Liu's Gaoyi Lingshan 1st Yuan Wang Fund has appeared in the top ten circulating shareholders of 5 stocks. Among them, Feng Liu made a big purchase of Angel Yeast in the second quarter, buying 26.5 million shares. Gaoyi Lingshan 1st Yuan Wang Fund held 35 million shares of Angel Yeast at the end of the second quarter, with a total holding value of 0.978 billion yuan.

In the second quarter, Feng Liu reduced his holdings of Baofeng Energy by 10 million shares, with a total holding value of 0.866 billion yuan.

Public information shows that Feng Liu's shareholding in Zhongju Gaoxin and Kanghua Biological remains unchanged. As of the end of the second quarter, he held 15 million shares of Zhongju Gaoxin, with a holding value of 0.34 billion yuan; and held 6 million shares of Kanghua Biological, with a holding value of 0.304 billion yuan.

(The content of this article is a list of objective data and information and does not constitute any investment advice)

2

Global turbulence drives safe-haven funds.

With the slowdown of global economic growth and the increasingly tense geopolitical situation, the once-unassuming Asian public utility sector has received a wave of safe-haven funds.

Last week's data showed that the MSCI Asia-Pacific Utility Index has risen 14% year-to-date, and the index is challenging the largest annual increase in nearly 20 years. This year, the index ranks second among the 11 Asian classified indices, second only to technology stocks.

In terms of regions, the increase in demand for electricity in India is due to population growth and positive fiscal policy, while Japan's electricity companies directly benefit from plans to restart nuclear reactors. South Korea and Malaysia are benefiting from the AI wave, which is leading to a significant increase in electricity demand.

Due to the defensive nature of electricity, the increasing global uncertainty is also one of the reasons for the influx of safe-haven funds into the electricity sector in Asia.

Domestic electricity stocks are favored by funds because of their high dividend yield. Since the beginning of this year, the A-share public utility sector has performed well, with a cumulative increase of about 14% year-to-date, second only to banks, and ranking second in major industry gains.

As global uncertainty increases, safe-haven funds are once again flowing into gold. Coupled with the Fed's growing expectations of a rate cut, international gold prices have risen sharply. The London gold price has risen to a new high of $2,510.17 today.

From the A-share market perspective, gold ETFs led the way today, with gold stock ETFs and gold industrial concept ETFs up more than 3%.

From the perspective of fund flows, as of August 16, more than 19.2 billion yuan of net inflows into gold-themed ETFs this year, with Huaxia Fund's gold ETF alone attracting over 8 billion yuan of investment.

3

A huge reversal played out.

The S&P 500 is once again approaching its historic high.

The violent trading downturn at the beginning of August led to a rare and consecutive plunge in the US stock market, followed by another extreme reversal last week.

With the release of economic data, major stock indices last week had almost regained their lost ground since the plunge. The three major U.S. stock indexes had their largest weekly gains of the year, with the S&P 500 index quietly approaching its historic high.

Related economic data shows that US retail sales had the largest increase since January 2023, while the number of people applying for unemployment benefits was lower than expected, and retail giant Walmart achieved better-than-expected profits, easing market concerns about an imminent US recession.

However, while bulls celebrate the return of the bull market, some analysts say consumer data resilience needs to be further observed.

Walmart, a retail giant, is known as the barometer of the US economy, and the latest financial report reflects new trends in US consumption.

After several years of inflation and slowing employment markets this year, American consumers are starting to pursue value for money and are more inclined to favor low-cost products.

Second-quarter US stock data shows that fast food giants such as McDonald's and KFC have underperformed expectations and are introducing $5 combo meals as consumers seek cheaper alternatives to fast food.

Under the trend of "low-cost consumption," Walmart has benefited from its low-price strategy and has performed better than expected.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said that more than half of Walmart's grocery sales account for its total sales, and prices are about 25% lower than traditional supermarkets.

In addition, the company has implemented temporary price reductions for 7,200 selected products, with overall prices in Sam's Club membership stores slightly lower than the same period last year.

Since the trading downturn in the US stock market in early August, consumer data has yet to dispel market concerns.

Some institutions believe that the current macroeconomic environment is still conducive to a soft landing for the US economy rather than a recession. However, there are still differences in the market over whether the turbulence has already ended.

Goldman Sachs analyst Chris Hussey believes that since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, survey data has become unreliable, and investors are still focused on the "better-than-expected" performance of retail sales, reinforcing the narrative of an economic "soft landing," but the actual situation is not optimistic.

From dining giants such as McDonald's and Starbucks, as well as food companies such as Nestle, to fashion giants such as LVMH and beauty companies such as Procter & Gamble and L'Oreal, performance trends are generally lower than expected.

Chris Hussey believes that Walmart's better-than-expected performance is seen as a sign of good consumer conditions, but in reality, consumers are reducing their spending under economic pressure and choosing more affordable Walmart.