Chinese A-shares continued their strong upward momentum during early trading today, with both the Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index reaching new highs since February. The ChiNext Index, the CSI 300, and the SSE 50 also posted gains. More than 4,000 stocks advanced, while trading volume remained stable.
Sector performance was led by steel, real estate, shipping and ports, and agricultural chemicals. In contrast, film and cinema, communication equipment, artificial intelligence, and motor manufacturing sectors experienced declines.
**Shipping Rates Soar** The shipping and ports sector opened significantly higher and extended gains, with the sector index surging nearly 4% to its highest level in over a decade since July 2015. Half-day trading volume exceeded the full-day volume from the previous session. All stocks within the sector advanced. China Merchants Energy Shipping Co.,Ltd. (601872) hit the daily limit-up in a rapid surge just about four minutes after the market open, marking its third limit-up in four trading days and reaching a new all-time high. Companies such as COSCO SHIPPING Energy Transportation and COSCO SHIPPING Development also quickly rose to their daily limit-up, hitting multi-year highs.
The heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are contributing to ongoing disruptions in Red Sea shipping, leading to increased insurance premiums. This has introduced an additional risk premium to shipping rates and could impact global supply chain efficiency, thereby providing support for freight costs.
According to the latest data as of February 24, the spot time charter equivalent earnings for VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers) on the Middle East-to-Far East route have reached $165,500 per day, a significant increase of 28.5% compared to the previous week. This marks the highest level in nearly six years since April 2020, with the year-to-date average surpassing $104,100 per day.
Analysts note that against the backdrop of deglobalization, the structure of energy trade continues to evolve, enhancing the scarcity and financial attributes of supply chain assets. Freight rates and valuations for shipowners are increasingly diverging from traditional supply-demand frameworks, which may become a defining feature of the tanker cycle for 2025-2026. The breach of the $150,000 per day mark for the TD3C TCE route during the off-season, amplified by geopolitical catalysts, is expected to drive shipping company profits to a cyclical peak in 2026.
**Real Estate Policies Intensify** The real estate sector demonstrated strong performance across the board during the morning session, led by real estate services. The sector index opened higher and extended gains, surging nearly 5% on heavy volume. 5I5J Group hit the daily limit-up, while companies like Top-Service Co., Ltd. also posted significant gains. Sectors including cement, building materials, real estate development, and rent-purchase equity rights also opened higher and advanced. Cheng Tou Holdings surged to the daily limit-up in approximately two minutes, while Huangting International and Hualian Holdings also strongly hit their limit-ups.
Ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, multiple cities across the country intensively released policies aimed at optimizing the real estate market. These policy measures include increasing the cap on housing provident fund loans, providing home purchase subsidies, and easing credit conditions, all intended to reduce the cost of home ownership for residents. Concurrently, leveraging the peak season for returning hometown buyers, various regions have organized property-purchase festivals and issued exclusive discount vouchers to stimulate housing consumption during the Spring Festival period.
Under the support of密集 policies, the real estate market showed signs of stabilization in January 2026, with market confidence recovering somewhat. Data from CRIC indicates that the transaction area for pre-owned homes in 13 key cities across the nation reached approximately 8.1 million square meters in January, a increase of 16% month-on-month and 33% year-on-year.
Market analysis suggests that the real estate market is expected to improve in 2026. Two potential inflection points are anticipated during the year: a "policy inflection point" around the end of the first quarter, followed by a "fundamentals inflection point" around the fourth quarter. Attention is recommended on developers with stable fundamentals, high exposure to sales and land reserves in core first- and second-tier cities, and significant market share in key urban markets.