On September 30th, the trading of A shares in mainland China closed for the third quarter. The Sci-Tech Innovation 50 Index fell by 30.7% in a single quarter, while the Growth Enterprise Market Index dropped by 27.8%. On September 29th, the overall market trading volume shrank by more than 60% compared to the peak in January. The Shanghai Composite Index, Shenzhen Component Index, and ChiNext Index all erased the gains made in the first half of the year.
According to reports from Caixin, both the Sci-Tech Innovation 50 and the ChiNext Index experienced their largest quarterly declines in the third quarter. During the same period, the Shanghai Composite Index fell by over 6% and the Shenzhen Component Index dropped by more than 20%.
Looking at the major indices, since September 1st, the Shanghai Composite Index decreased by 3.62%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell by 8.04%, the ChiNext Index dropped by 8.82%, and the Sci-Tech Innovation 50 fell by over 9%.
In the third quarter, the electronic and communication sectors fell by 32.6% and 28.7% respectively, ranking at the top of the list of declining industries. Sub-sectors such as electronic chemicals, energy metals, and semiconductors also faced significant declines.
As reported by “Time Finance”, the daily trading volume of A shares decreased from 3.13 trillion yuan in June to around 1.83 trillion yuan in September, with declines in July and August as well.
On September 29th, the trading volume in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing was approximately 1.42 trillion yuan, hitting a new low in nearly 14 months. Compared to the intra-year high of around 3.99 trillion yuan on January 14th, the decrease was over 60%. On September 30th, the trading volume in the three cities reached about 1.45 trillion yuan.
Data from Oriental Wealth Choice shows that in the first three quarters of this year, out of 5572 A-share stocks, 3843 stocks experienced declines, accounting for about 69%.
As of September 30th, the Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3842.19 points, accumulating a 3.19% decline in the first three quarters. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 12,887.62 points, down by 4.71%, and the ChiNext Index closed at 3135.28 points, down by 2.12%. Despite the significant drop in the third quarter, the Sci-Tech Innovation 50 still saw a cumulative increase of 13.82% in the first three quarters.
According to the industry index statistics from Oriental Wealth, the commercial retail, transportation equipment, and Internet industries all experienced declines of over 20% in the first three quarters, while the steel, electrical equipment, food and beverage, and agriculture sectors dropped by over 10%.
Compared to the end of the second quarter, the total market value of the electronic equipment industry decreased by 4.33 trillion yuan as of the end of September, and the information technology industry decreased by 1.96 trillion yuan.
Yang Delong, Chief Economist at Foresea-Cinda Fund, told “Time Finance” that after adjustments in the third quarter, stocks related to artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and computing power may still rebound in the fourth quarter.
A market observer expressed that if the US Treasury bond yield continues to stay above 5%, the valuation of global equities and other risk assets may be suppressed, limiting the upward momentum in the fourth quarter.