GMT EIGHT - OPPORTUNITIES IN CHINA

Zimbabwe clarifies conditions for lifting lithium mining export ban? Chinese lithium companies: progress by leading companies will be fast in negotiations

According to local media reports in Zimbabwe, the government recently issued a letter from the Ministry of Mines clearly outlining a package of conditions for lifting the ban on lithium ore exports: companies must provide written commitments to build local ore processing facilities, complete a lithium sulfate processing plant by January 1, 2027, fully declare their mineral resources and ensure that export revenues are fully repatriated; the government will allocate export quotas to each producer, require companies to submit progress reports monthly, and impose a 10% export tax on concentrate. On April 9, several executives of local Chinese lithium companies stated that the specific quota plan has not been officially issued yet, and negotiations are still ongoing, but negotiations with major companies are progressing quickly. The local government's preferred conditions are that the company's mineral reserve scale is large enough, has mining licenses, has an ore processing plant, and traders and small mines are excluded.

US personal spending rate in February was 0.4%, expected 0.5%, previous value was 0.40%. US initial jobless claims for the week ending April 4th was 219,000, expected 210,000, with the revised previous value from 202,000 to 203,000.

Southbound funds today net bought 12.593 billion Hong Kong dollars.

In terms of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Yingfu Fund and Alibaba-W are the top net buyers with 4.148 billion Hong Kong dollars and 1.104 billion Hong Kong dollars respectively; China National Offshore Oil Corporation is the top net seller with an amount of 3.11 billion Hong Kong dollars. In terms of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Yingfu Fund and China Southern Hengseng Technology are the top net buyers with 1.481 billion Hong Kong dollars and 449 million Hong Kong dollars respectively; Alibaba-W is the top net seller with an amount of 164 million Hong Kong dollars.

Sell LNG to South Asia at a 40% discount during the global gas shortage, using intermediaries to "wash" the origin and avoid US sanctions.

According to informed sources, Russia is trying to take advantage of the tight global natural gas supply situation to attract energy-deficient South Asian countries to purchase its liquefied natural gas (LNG) sourced from facilities sanctioned by the United States.

Cash out nearly 7.3 billion Hong Kong dollars! Major shareholder Prosus reduced its holdings of Tencent (00700) by approximately 13 million shares in the first quarter.

According to official website data, as of April 8th, Prosus still holds approximately 2.067 billion shares of Tencent.

National television channels are eliminating all false medical advertising.

In response to the issue of false advertising, exaggeration, using efficacy as proof, and promoting cure rates in pharmaceutical advertisements on radio and television, the State Administration of Radio and Television carried out a concentrated rectification nationwide starting in August 2025. Together with provincial radio and television administrative departments, they developed specific work plans, implemented measures such as complaint acceptance, monitoring and investigation, judgment and identification, and supervision and rectification, increased enforcement efforts, strengthened collaborative governance, and ensured timely discovery, accurate identification, and effective handling of illegal advertisements. By the end of March this year, all national television channels have completely removed false pharmaceutical advertisements.

Tencent Cloud: Starting from May 9th, the prices of AI computing power, container services, and EMR related products will be increased by 5%.

Tencent Cloud releases announcement on AI computing power, container services, and EMR-related product price adjustments.

Hong Kong stock market midday review: Hang Seng Index fell by 0.35%, Hang Seng Technology Index fell by 1.26%

Hong Kong stocks closed at noon, with the Hang Seng Index falling by 0.35% and the Hang Seng Technology Index dropping by 1.26%. The Hang Seng Connect ETF Yinhua fell by 0.52%, while the Hong Kong Tech ETF Penghua fell by 1.26%. In terms of sectors, the transportation infrastructure sector saw the largest gains, while passenger airlines and insurance sectors experienced the biggest losses. In terms of individual stocks, Kelos Technology rose by 23.88%, Xunce rose by 15.58%, Zhipu rose by 13.13%, Tudatong rose by 12.44%, and Desh -B rose by 11.28%. However, Health 160 dropped by 18.42%, Jingwei Tian Di dropped by 6.41%, Meitu Company fell by 6.33%, Guoen Technology dropped by 6.28%, and China Reinsurance fell by 6.04%.

US Treasury Secretary Yellen urged Congress to quickly pass the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act.

Intended to reserve shares for retail investors! OpenAI moves towards an epic IPO with a valuation exceeding $850 billion.

OpenAI plans to reserve a portion of shares for retail investors in its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO).

The financing balance of the two cities increased by 16.13 billion yuan compared to the previous day.

As of April 8, the balance of margin financing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange was 13100.46 billion yuan, an increase of 66.09 billion yuan from the previous trading day; the balance of margin financing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange was 12646.06 billion yuan, an increase of 95.21 billion yuan from the previous trading day; the total margin financing balance of the two exchanges was 25746.52 billion yuan, an increase of 161.30 billion yuan from the previous trading day.

Shenzhen Stock Exchange: The list of securities eligible for Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect has been adjusted, and Hidrive Intelligence Driving has been included starting from April 9, 2026.

Crude oil spot prices skyrocketed to $124.68, with a premium of nearly $30 over futures! The supply crisis resulting from the difficult ceasefire between the US and Iran is hard to resolve.

Even if the ceasefire agreement is maintained, the deep supply disruptions caused by this ongoing five-week war are unlikely to be resolved, and oil supply will remain tight for some time.

The rising trend of gold price "came to a halt"! Iranian Speaker of Parliament says ceasefire agreement has been violated, gold price briefly broke 4800 US dollars before turning downwards.

Due to the statement from Iran's Parliament Speaker that the temporary ceasefire agreement reached between Iran and the United States has been violated, the price of gold has erased its earlier gains and turned lower.

The speaker of the Iranian parliament criticized the United States for violating the ceasefire agreement, as three out of the ten proposals have been sabotaged.

On Wednesday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf publicly criticized the United States for violating the two-week ceasefire agreement reached between the two parties, adding further uncertainty to the already fragile prospects of the ceasefire.

Meta Platforms (META.US) Launches New AI Model "Muse Spark", Stock Price Soars Nearly 9% at One Point

Meta Platforms officially launches the new AI model "Muse Spark," which is its first core achievement released after heavily investing in AI.

Federal Reserve meeting minutes: US-Iran war may further drive up inflation, not ruling out possibility of raising interest rates again under certain circumstances.

More and more policy makers are starting to worry that a US-Iran war could further push up inflation, and believe that it may be necessary to raise interest rates again in certain circumstances.

Our country successfully launched 21 groups of low-orbit satellites for satellite internet.

At 3:38 am on April 9, 2026, Beijing time, China successfully launched the satellite Internet low-orbit 21-satellite constellation into space using the Long March 6 rocket at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The satellites entered their planned orbits smoothly, and the launch mission was a complete success. This mission marked the 637th flight of the Long March series of carrier rockets.

The White House: President Trump has issued a proclamation adjusting the automatic spending cuts for the 2027 fiscal year according to the revised Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act.

The Chief Financial Officer of OpenAI stated that they will allocate IPO stocks to retail investors.

The Dow Jones opened up 2.8%, the S&P 500 rose 2.6%, and the Nasdaq rose 3.6%.

Delta Air Lines rose 10.9%, exceeding expectations with adjusted net profit in Q1. Boeing rose 3.9%, reaching a seven-year cooperation agreement with the US Department of Defense. Levi Strauss rose 14.5%, exceeding Q1 performance expectations and raising full-year guidance. TSMC rose 7.0%, with Goldman Sachs raising profit forecasts and setting a target price of $550.

The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rose more than 3%, Tiger Securities rose by 8.28%, Century Internet rose by 9.27%, Wanwu Xinsheng rose by 6.85%, Manbang rose by 5.85%, and Jingke Energy rose by 5.29%.

Qatar has begun the process of restoring production at its liquified natural gas export facilities.

Today, southbound funds saw a significant net sell-off of 21.574 billion yuan. In the Hong Kong Stock Connect (Shanghai) channel, Ying Fu Fund and Xiaomi Group-W saw net sell-offs of 7.046 billion Hong Kong dollars and 1.486 billion Hong Kong dollars respectively. Alibaba-W had the highest net buying amount of 831 million Hong Kong dollars. In the Hong Kong Stock Connect (Shenzhen) channel, Ying Fu Fund and China National Offshore Oil Corporation saw net sell-offs of 1.83 billion Hong Kong dollars and 1.321 billion Hong Kong dollars respectively. Alibaba-W had the highest net buying amount of 1.168 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The ambassador of Iran in China answered whether the Strait of Hormuz is toll-collecting.

In response to the widespread attention of foreign media on whether the Strait of Hormuz will be charged, Iran's ambassador to China, Fazli, stated on the 8th in Beijing that Iran has not yet officially launched a charging plan and standard. Iran will refer to the current toll standards of other waterways in the world and international law to make a decision.

Director of Hong Kong Immigration Department Guo Junfeng has been reappointed until June 30, 2027.

The Director of the Hong Kong Immigration Department, Guo Junfeng, will reach retirement age on April 9, 2026. He has been granted an extension until June 30, 2027.

Midday Report: The ChiNext Index surged 4.8% in the morning, with both the gold and AI industry chains showing widespread gains.

The three major indexes of A shares rose collectively in the morning session. As of noon, the Shanghai Composite Index rose by 1.92%, the Shenzhen Component Index rose by 3.87%, the Growth Enterprise Index rose by 4.81%, and the Beishiz 50 rose by 3.51%. The total market turnover was 1.5525 trillion yuan, an increase of 474.6 billion yuan from the previous day, with over 5000 stocks rising across the entire market. In terms of sector performance, precious metals, AI applications, CPO, PCB, airport shipping, cloud computing, commercial aerospace, and semiconductor sectors led the gains. On the other hand, oil and gas exploration and services, coal mining and processing, and chemical raw materials sectors led the declines. On the market, the temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect, improving market risk appetite. CPO, PCB, and other computing hardware stocks rose sharply, with Zhongjixuchuang hitting a new historical high in intra-day trading. Stocks such as Jianqiao Technology and Guanghe Technology also hit the limit up. Gold stocks followed the rise in international gold prices, with Western Gold hitting the limit up, and Xiaocheng Technology and Hunan Silver following suit. AI application concept stocks also performed strongly, with Blue Light Label up by 20%, and ZheWen Interconnect and Delicai Stock among the 10+ stocks that hit the limit up. In addition, sectors such as semiconductors, commercial aerospace, and computing power leasing also rose. On the other hand, after the ceasefire between the US and Iran, international oil prices plummeted. Oil and gas stocks followed suit, with companies like Zhongman Petroleum, Becken Energy, and Blue Flame Holdings hitting the limit down, while China National Offshore Oil and Quan Oil Stock leading the declines.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index futures rose 3.0% to 4,496.00 points.

America and Iran agree to a ceasefire for two weeks, causing gold to rise more than 3% and oil to plummet by 19%, falling below the 100 yuan mark.

Trump agrees to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, and Iran agrees to open the Strait of Hormuz in the ceasefire agreement. As a result, the price of gold goes up, while the price of oil falls below $100.

From the threat of "destroying civilization" to a ceasefire for two weeks, the situation in the Middle East is unpredictable! Wall Street urgently prepares a "war trading guide".

Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan traders are formulating stock market trading strategies in response to the rising risks of a war.

Shatter the "delay panic"! Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) is rumored to unveil its first foldable iPhone as scheduled in September, significantly narrowing the 5% intraday decline.

According to informed sources, Apple's (AAPL.US) first foldable phone is still expected to make an appearance during the regular iPhone release cycle later this year, shattering concerns about major manufacturing obstacles.

The TACO script is staged as scheduled! Trump's "civilization extinction ultimatum" turned into a ceasefire for two weeks, and the technology stocks are on the verge of a super counterattack.

With both the United States and Israel agreeing to a temporary ceasefire, less than 12 hours after Trump's outburst threatening to "wipe out the entire civilization of Iran", the tension between the US and Iran can be said to have undergone a dramatic reversal.

Hong Kong stock concept tracking | Central bank continues to increase holding of gold for 17 consecutive months, the long-term logic of gold price increase remains unchanged (with concept stocks)

Nanhua Futures stated that in the second quarter, the prices of precious metals will gradually recover from the bottom after shaking, and the previous decline will gradually improve and rebound. Short-term adjustments will not change the long-term upward trend.

The probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this year has increased.

Federal Fund Futures in the United States are generally rising, with the December contract rising by 14 basis points, implying a 17 basis point rate cut this year.

Pakistan calls for a two-week ceasefire. Trump says the U.S. is engaged in "intense negotiations" regarding a war with Iran.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has stated that there are "intense negotiations" currently taking place regarding the Iran issue.

The US bond market is showing uncommon differentiation, inflation impact is seen as temporary pressure, the market still trusts the Federal Reserve.

The US bond market is exhibiting a rare divergence, reflecting a significant deviation in investors' judgments on short-term and long-term inflation prospects.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan has stated that he has requested US President Trump to extend the deadline for Iran by two weeks and urged all parties in conflict to cease fire in all regions for two weeks in order to achieve a complete end to the Iran war through diplomatic means. He pointed out that diplomatic efforts aimed at peacefully solving the ongoing wars in the Middle East are progressing steadily. He also called on Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz as a gesture of goodwill in the next two weeks. The market quickly reacted to this information, with WTI crude oil falling by $2 in the short term, spot gold rising by nearly $40 and breaking through $4700, and US stocks edging higher.

"Elon Musk worship" sweeps the globe! SpaceX's mega IPO feast ignites a frenzy of commercial space investment.

SpaceX, founded and helmed by Musk, is about to go public, sparking a global influx of capital into smaller space exploration companies. Investors are eager to catch a ride on what could potentially be the largest IPO in history.

War wrong killing gives birth to gold mine! Wall Street sounds the horn of technological counterattack, will the "AI computing power team" take the lead in advancing?

Technology stocks are about to make a comeback after the valuation collapse! Goldman Sachs says technology stocks are entering an excellent investment window, with valuations lower than the overall stock market, making the technology sector increasingly attractive to investors.

Brent crude fell 2% intraday and is now trading at $107.53 per barrel.

Spot gold rose by almost 1%, closing at $4693.14 per ounce.

The London Metal Exchange's copper spot inventory increased by 29,500 tons, reaching the highest level since July 2024.

Samsung denies purchasing 20 ASML EUV lithography machines.

Regarding the news about "Samsung's extravagant purchase of 20 ASML EUV lithography machines worth 10 trillion Korean won", Samsung responded that this information is not true and the company has not made any related decisions to date.

Musk's "story" supports SpaceX's $2 trillion valuation! Starlink and rocket business provide backbone, success or failure of test flight determines schedule.

SpaceX and its bankers are preparing to hold an investor meeting to evaluate the demand for a potential IPO that could potentially raise the company's valuation to around $2 trillion.

New Stock News | Huaqin Co., Ltd. (603296.SH) is reportedly preparing for an IPO in Hong Kong with expectations to raise at least 600 million US dollars.

According to media reports, it is said that Huahin Technology (603296.SH) started pre-deal investor education in Hong Kong on April 7, with an expected transaction size of 600 to 800 million US dollars, subject to market conditions.

During the Cambrian period, the stock price jumped nearly 9% and rose above 1100 yuan.

Market "calm before the storm": Trump issues "destroy" warning to Iran, oil prices stabilize at high levels.

International oil prices remain stable near highs.

"Wal Street veterans" echoed Wells Fargo's bullish view: US tech stocks have lost their appeal, making long-term investment a "tempting buying point."

Adny believes that the correction in US tech stocks has provided an attractive entry point.

AI storage chip demand ignores the war clouds, Samsung's Q1 profit soars eight times higher than expected!

Samsung Electronics Co. achieved a quarterly profit increase that was eight times higher than expected, highlighting the strong demand for AI storage chips despite the market volatility caused by the Middle East conflict.

On-site research overturns mainstream judgment: Analysts from the Citrini faction personally went to Oman, claiming that the Strait of Hormuz is not completely closed.

Citrini Research stated that they dispatched an analyst to the Musandam Peninsula in Oman, where the analyst traveled by boat to the Strait of Hormuz to observe shipping activities.

Latest

3 m ago

The onshore RMB to USD exchange rate closed at 6.8305 yuan at 03:00 Beijing time, up 55 points from the Wednesday night session closing. The trading volume was 493.02 billion US dollars.

4 m ago

JPMorgan Chase downgraded Hermele Foods from "overweight" to "neutral" and lowered the target price from $28 to $23. This means there is only a slightly higher than 6% upside potential compared to its previous closing price.

5 m ago

According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina, industrial production in Argentina decreased by 8.7% year-on-year in February.

6 m ago

Truist believes it may be time to temporarily hold off on buying Tronox now. The bank has downgraded the titanium product manufacturer's rating from "buy" to "hold" while raising its target price to $9.

6 m ago

Hang Seng Index futures closed up 0.73% in overnight trading, at 25906.27 points, up 153.87 points.

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