"Shanghai and Shenzhen" Mainland GDP increased by 5% to meet the target, A-share three major indices showed mixed performance in the half-day, aviation, nuclear power, and power grid equipment concept stocks surged

The National Bureau of Statistics announced that the GDP of mainland China is expected to grow by 5% year-on-year in 2025, in line with market expectations, achieving the central government's economic growth target. The growth for the fourth quarter of last year was 4.5%, also meeting market expectations. The total sales of newly built commercial housing in 2025 are projected to be RMB 8.39 trillion, a year-on-year decrease of 12.6%. Among them, residential sales are expected to drop by 13%. Last month, the housing price index in 70 large and medium-sized cities in mainland China fell by 2.7% year-on-year, marking the largest decline in five months.

Starting today (19th), the People's Bank of China has lowered the re-lending and rediscount rates by 0.25 percentage points and has also reduced the rates of various structural monetary policy tools by 0.25 percentage points. The People's Bank and the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice stating that the minimum down payment ratio for commercial housing loans (including "commercial and residential dual-use housing") will be adjusted to no less than 30%, down from the previous 50%. The People's Bank conducted a seven-day reverse repurchase operation of RMB 158.3 billion in the open market, with the operation rate remaining at 1.4%. Today, RMB 86.1 billion in reverse repos are maturing, resulting in a net injection of RMB 72.2 billion for the day.

The central parity rate of the RMB against the USD was raised by 27 points to 7.0051 per USD. The three major A-share indices opened lower and showed divergent trends. The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 4,107 points at midday, up 5 points or 0.1%, with a trading volume of RMB 78.83 billion; the Shenzhen Component Index closed at 14,280 points, down 1 point or 0.01%, with a trading volume of about RMB 1 trillion; the ChiNext Index closed at 3,339 points, down 21 points or 0.6%, with a trading volume of RMB 46.58 billion.

Banking and insurance stocks were slightly weak, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SH) and China Construction Bank (601939.SH) falling by 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively. Ping An Insurance (601318.SH), China Life (601628.SH), and China Pacific Insurance (601601.SH) dropped between 0.6% and 1.5%.

Nuclear power and grid equipment concept stocks surged, with Baobian Electric (600550.SH), Qifan Cable (605222.SH), and Pinggao Electric (600312.SH) rising by 6.1% to 9.5%. Senyuan Electric (002358.SZ) and Guangdian Electric (601616.SH) both hit the daily limit, while XJ Electric (000400.SZ) rose by 7.6%.

Aviation stocks rose against the trend, with China Eastern Airlines (600115.SH), Air China (601111.SH), and China Southern Airlines (600029.SH) increasing by 3.5% to 4.8%.

Chip stocks were weak, with SMIC A (688981.SH) and Hua Hong (688347.SH) falling by 1.2% and 2.9%, respectively. AI chip stock Cambricon (688256.SH) dropped by 0.3%. Domestic GPU stocks Muxi Co., Ltd. (688802.SH) and Moore Threads (688795.SH) fell by 1.1% and 1.8%, respectively In addition, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (300750.SZ) opened lower, down 1.4%. BYD Company Limited (002594.SZ) remained steady, slightly up 0.1%.

Rongbai Technology Co., Ltd. (688005.SH) hit the daily limit down at the opening, falling 8.6% in half a day, as it was investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission for misleading statements related to a major contract announcement, with the total contract amount with Contemporary Amperex Technology estimated at 120 billion yuan.

LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (601012.SH) fell 2.1%, as it expects a net profit loss of 6 billion to 6.5 billion yuan in 2025. China Metallurgical Group Corporation (601618.SH) dropped 2.6%, as it anticipates a year-on-year decline of over 50% in net profit for 2025