The banking sector showed strength in morning trading on August 10, with all 42 A-share bank stocks moving higher. Bank of Qingdao, Bank of Suzhou, and Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank rose over 2%, while nearly 20 stocks including Bank of Xi'an, Jiangsu Changshu Rural Commercial Bank, and China CITIC Bank gained more than 1%. The Huabao Fund's 100 billion-yuan bank ETF 512800 briefly surged over 1% intraday, and is currently trading up 0.88%, regaining its 5-day and 20-day moving averages. Capital has been flowing back noticeably in recent days; Shanghai Stock Exchange data shows that 512800 has attracted net capital inflows exceeding 5.5 billion yuan over the past two consecutive trading days.

CITIC Securities believes that, from a fundamental perspective, the banking sector's net interest margins are expected to perform well in the second quarter. Capital markets and wealth management businesses are likely to drive fee income growth, which should keep revenue growth stable and positive, potentially leading to a slight uptick in profit growth. From an investment standpoint, the banking sector experienced significant volatility in August due to market style shifts. While A-share market volatility is expected to remain elevated, potentially weakening the relative performance of the banking sector, the macro narrative of stable operating structures continues to unfold. This suggests that the full-year absolute return potential for the banking sector remains intact. Historically, the banking sector has a high probability of outperforming the broader market. Data from Guolian Minsheng Securities shows that over the 18 annual periods from the end of 2008 to the present, the banking index has outperformed the CSI 300 Total Return Index in 11 of those years, representing a win rate exceeding 61%. This highlights the long-term allocation value of the banking sector.

Looking at the current situation, Guosheng Securities states that the dividend yield style is benefiting from a shift by absolute return investors. High-dividend, low-volatility, stable-cash-flow assets remain the core direction for absolute return capital. Riding the trend with both offense and defense, the Huabao Bank ETF 512800 and its linked funds (Class A: 240019; Class C: 006697) passively track the CSI Bank Index. The index's constituent stocks include all 42 A-share listed banks, making it an efficient investment tool for tracking the overall performance of the banking sector. The Bank ETF 512800 has a fund size exceeding 10 billion yuan and an average daily turnover of over 7 billion yuan since 2025, making it the largest in scale and most liquid among the 10 banking ETFs listed on the A-share market. Data sources: Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, etc. Fee-related notes: When investors subscribe for or redeem fund shares, the subscription/redemption agency may charge a commission of up to 0.5%, which includes relevant fees charged by the stock exchange, registration authority, etc. Fee-related notes for the linked fund: The subscription fee rate (front-end load) for the Huabao CSI Bank Index Linked Fund (Class A) is RMB 1,000 per transaction for subscription amounts of RMB 2 million (inclusive) or more, 0.6% for amounts between RMB 1 million (inclusive) and RMB 2 million, and 1% for amounts below RMB 1 million; the redemption fee rate is 1.5% for holding periods of less than 7 days, 0.5% for holding periods between 7 days (inclusive) and 180 days, 0.25% for holding periods between 180 days (inclusive) and 1 year, and 0% for holding periods of 1 year (inclusive) or more; no sales service fee is charged. The Huabao CSI Bank Index Linked Fund (Class C) does not charge a subscription fee; the redemption fee rate is 1.5% for holding periods of less than 7 days, 0.5% for holding periods between 7 days (inclusive) and 30 days, and 0% for holding periods of 30 days (inclusive) or more; the sales service fee is 0.2%. Risk warning: The Huabao Bank ETF 512800 passively tracks the CSI Bank Index, which has a base date of December 31, 2004, and was published on July 15, 2013. The annual returns of the CSI Bank Index for the past five full calendar years are: 2025, 6.79%; 2024, 34.71%; 2023, -7.27%; 2022, -8.78%; 2021, -4.41%. The annualized volatility for the past five full calendar years is: 2025, 14.03%; 2024, 19.34%; 2023, 13.41%; 2022, 18.56%; 2021, 18.63%. The composition of the index's constituent stocks is adjusted periodically according to the index's compilation rules. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The constituent stocks shown in this article are for demonstration purposes only. Descriptions of individual stocks are not investment advice and do not represent the holdings or trading activities of any fund managed by the fund manager. The fund manager assesses the risk level of this fund as R3-Medium Risk, suitable for investors with a balanced (C3) risk profile or above. Any information appearing in this article (including but not limited to individual stocks, comments, forecasts, charts, indicators, theories, or any form of expression) is for reference only. Investors must take full responsibility for their own investment decisions. Furthermore, any views, analyses, or forecasts in this article do not constitute investment advice to readers, and the author is not responsible for any direct or indirect losses arising from the use of this content. Fund investment carries risks. Past performance of a fund does not represent its future performance. The performance of other funds managed by the same fund manager does not guarantee the performance of this fund. Please invest cautiously.