Chinese A-shares opened lower collectively on March 27th. As of 9:55 AM, all four major indices had fallen by more than 1%, with over 4,500 stocks declining across the market.

In early trading, the non-ferrous metals/aluminum sector opened higher as a group. Tianshan Aluminum Group, Minfa Aluminum, and Changzhou Aluminum opened limit-up. Ye Chiu Metal, Shenhuo Group, Yunnan Aluminum, Aluminum Corporation of China, and Weiqiao Pioneering were among the top gainers. Reports indicate that two major aluminum plants in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates were recently confirmed to have been attacked by Iran. Aluminum products exported from the Middle East account for approximately 10% of global supply, which could impact the market. Stimulated by this news, LME aluminum prices rose 5% following the attacks. Separately, Tianshan Aluminum Group announced it expects first-quarter 2026 net profit attributable to shareholders to reach 2.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 107.92%.

Oil and gas stocks were also among the top gainers. Intercontinental Energy, PetroChina, Blue Flame Holding, and CNOOC all rose more than 2%.

The innovative drug concept was active. Menova Pharmaceutical recorded six limit-up days in seven sessions. Wanbangde Pharmaceutical, Shuanglu Pharmaceutical, and Dongcheng Pharmaceutical all hit the upside limit. Lianhuan Pharmaceutical, Hightiger, and Staidson Pharmaceutical also advanced.

Sectors including power, CPO, MLCC, and advanced packaging were among the leading decliners.

Hong Kong stocks opened lower, with the Hang Seng Index down 1.68% and the Hang Seng Tech Index down 2.78% at the open. Losses narrowed slightly by the time of writing.

Popular technology stocks declined broadly. As of 10:00 AM, NIO and XPeng Inc. were down more than 5%. SMIC, Baidu, Kingdee International, and Hua Hong Semiconductor fell over 4%. Kuaishou, Alibaba, and Bilibili Inc. dropped more than 3%.

Oil and gas stocks strengthened. Allied Oil and Gas surged 9%, while Hong Kong & China Gas rose nearly 4%. Shandong Molong gained 3%, and China Oilfield Services advanced 3.16%. This movement followed continued gains in WTI and Brent crude oil prices, which had both risen above $100 per barrel.

The innovative drug sector remained active. RemeGen climbed about 8%, and Insilico Medicine surged as much as 14.95%, though its gains moderated to 6% by the time of writing. This activity followed an announcement of a $2.75 billion collaboration between Eli Lilly and Insilico Medicine. Lilly obtained exclusive sales rights for a GLP-1 diabetes drug developed using Insilico's AI technology, with an upfront payment of $115 million and a total potential deal value of $2.75 billion.