China's A-share market opened with broad gains on September 18, as all three major indices pushed higher in early trading. The ChiNext board climbed over 1%, with chipmakers and computing hardware leading the advance, while CPO, optical chips, semiconductor wafers, and memory chips saw notable strength. Biotech, dining and tourism, and chemical sectors also moved up, whereas shipping, autos, and agriculture faced downward pressure.

Hong Kong stocks opened firm and extended gains, with both the Hang Seng Index and Hang Seng Tech Index rising, the latter up more than 1%. Major tech heavyweights traded mostly higher, with Lenovo Group surging over 6%, while chip stocks rebounded, as GigaDevice and Hua Hong Semiconductor posted solid gains. AI large-model shares also strengthened. In the bond market, treasury futures rose broadly, while in commodities, most domestic futures gained, with precious metals leading. Overnight, international gold prices surged, approaching the $4,400 mark.

Core Market Snapshot

Mainland A-shares: As of press time, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.48%, the Shenzhen Component Index gained 1.08%, and the ChiNext Index added 1.56%.

Hong Kong: The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.85%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 1.41%.

Bonds: Treasury futures fluctuated higher, with the 30-year main contract up 0.03%, the 10-year main contract gaining 0.01%, while longer-dated contracts held steady.

Commodities: Most domestic futures rose, with silver and container shipping indices up 2%, copper and tin gaining 1%, and glass, aluminum, pulp, stainless steel, gold, nickel, lithium carbonate, platinum, rapeseed, alumina, palladium, and manganese silicon all advancing. Iron ore, eggs, polysilicon, and hot-rolled coils declined, while rubber, soybean meal, and rebar fell over 1%, fuel oil and coke dropped more than 3%, and coking coal and crude oil tumbled over 6%.

At 09:44, memory chip stocks rose steadily, with CXMT, GigaDevice, Montage Technology, Dapu Micro, and Biwin Storage all up around 3%. Overnight, US AI hardware and chip stocks rallied, with Intel surging over 7%, SanDisk and AMD adding more than 6%, and Micron Technology climbing over 5%. Meanwhile, in Asia-Pacific markets, SK Hynix rose over 4% and Samsung Electronics gained nearly 3%.

In news, at an AI summit in Scotland on September 17, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that as AI applications expand into healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services, the company's chip sales by 2027 will double this year's levels. Additionally, AI compute rental service provider Nebius plans to raise GPU cloud service prices by an average of 20% starting October 1, reflecting sustained strong demand for GPU computing capacity. Overnight on Wall Street, the semiconductor sector closed broadly higher, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 3.14%. ARM gained 8.57%, AMD rose 6.36%, TSMC added 2.94%, Broadcom advanced 2.29%, Qualcomm gained 2.09%, and ASML rose 1.71%.

At 09:41, the biotech sector extended its rally, with HitGen, Biodee, and Biosig Technologies leading gains.

At 09:40, CPO concepts moved higher in early trading, with Mentech Optical hitting the daily limit up, T&S Communications surging over 10%, and Changxin Botec, LianTe Technology, Sinopec Tech, and Changguang Huaxin among the top gainers. The move followed Jensen Huang's remarks at the AI event in Scotland on September 17, where he projected Nvidia's 2027 chip sales would reach roughly double current annual levels.

At 09:39, humanoid robot concepts traded actively, with Wanxiang Qianchao nearing the daily limit up, while Tuopu Group, Sanhua Intelligent Controls, Fangzheng Motor, and Fengguang Precision followed gains.

At 09:38, the electronic fabric sector experienced sharp volatility, with Sinoma Science opening at the limit-up price before a steep sell-off, while China Jushi slid nearly 4%.

At 09:34, AI drug discovery concepts strengthened again, with Berry Genomics hitting the limit up, BPS Bioscience surging over 10%, and Sino Biological, HB Medicine, Kingmed Diagnostics, and Biocytogen following higher. The rally came after Novo Nordisk announced a partnership with Anthropic to leverage the latter's AI models and Claude Science for drug discovery and development.

At 09:31, photoresist concepts remained active, with Huaruan Tech hitting its second straight limit up, while Xilong Scientific, Jurong Chemical, Kent Catalysts, Jiuri New Materials, and Anji Tech led gains. On September 16, Japanese firms JSR, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo, and Shin-Etsu Chemical announced a global photoresist price increase of 15% effective October 1, 2026, with spot orders rising 32%-38%.

At 09:26, the Shanghai Composite opened up 0.42%, with the ChiNext Index rising 1.61%. AI hardware names warmed up noticeably, with Zhongji Innolight, Eoptolink, Tianfu Communication, and CXMT all moving higher. Agriculture, shipping, coal, and oil and gas sectors adjusted.

At 09:21, the Hang Seng Index opened up 0.49%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.41%. SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor, CanSino Biologics, CIG, and GigaDevice all strengthened.