Market reports said Iran and the United States had reached a final draft on a peace agreement. Iranian officials later denied that an agreement had been reached, but differences between the two countries have narrowed. The central parity of RMB against the USD was set at 6.8373, down 24 bps MoM. The People's Bank of China conducted RMB153 billion seven-day reverse repos in the open market today (22nd) at an unchanged rate of 1.4%. With RMB500 million maturing, the single-day net injection amounted to RMB152.5 billion. The three major A-share indices opened 0.5% to 1.2% higher.

The Shanghai Composite Index opened up 18 points, or 0.5%, at 4,096. The Shenzhen Component Index opened up 135 points, or 0.9%, at 15,382. The ChiNext Index opened up 46 points, or 1.2%, at 3,875.

Banking stocks saw ICBC (601398.SH) 0.000 (0.000%) open down 0.3%, while CCB (601939.SH) -0.130 (-1.294%) opened flat. Among insurers, CHINA LIFE (601628.SH) -0.150 (-0.441%) opened down 0.1%, while CHINA PACIFIC INSURANCE (601601.SH) -0.160 (-0.485%) opened up 0.7%. In addition, BYD Company (002594.SZ) -0.330 (-0.353%) opened less than 0.1% higher. CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX (300750.SZ) +0.860 (+0.209%) opened up 0.8%.

A-share "new stock king" SEMIGHT INSTRUMENTS (688808.SH) +39.970 (+2.612%) opened up 3.3% at RMB1,580. KWEICHOW MOUTAI (600519.SH) -11.840 (-0.903%) opened nearly flat at RMB1,310.95.

Among chip stocks, SMIC (688981.SH) +2.080 (+1.635%) opened up 1.7%, while HUA HONG (688347.SH) +3.800 (+2.249%) opened flat.

AI chip stock CAMBRICON (688256.SH) -0.900 (-0.070%) opened up 0.7%. Domestic GPU stocks METAX (688802.SH) +11.370 (+1.571%) and MOORE THREADS (688795.SH) +5.340 (+0.771%) opened down 0.5% and 0.01%, respectively. LQKJ (688008.SH) +9.330 (+3.559%) opened up 4.1%. Optical fibre stock YANGTZE OPTICAL FIBRE (601869.SH) +10.810 (+2.877%) opened up 1.1%. Memory chip stock GIGADEVICE (603986.SH) +24.760 (+5.733%) opened up 3.7%. (jl/da)(A Shares quote is delayed for at least 15 mins.)