Chinese equity markets closed higher on Thursday after an afternoon rebound that saw risk appetite swing back into small-cap and technology-linked names. The ChiNext board led gains, finishing up 1.01%, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.14% and the Shenzhen Component gained 0.5%. Momentum was broad: more than 3,500 stocks advanced and daily turnover climbed to RMB 2.69 trillion, up about RMB 91 billion from the previous session.
The most dramatic move came from the commercial space (商业航天) theme, which exploded in the afternoon session. Nearly twenty listed constituents hit their daily limit-up caps, with several names posting consecutive limits. The surge reflects renewed investor enthusiasm for private-sector space services—satellite manufacturing, launch vehicles and downstream applications such as remote sensing and communications.
Other industrial and hardware-oriented sectors also outperformed. Robotics and PCB makers rallied sharply, with multiple stocks on those lists closing at limit-up, while oil & gas and coal shares continued to show cyclically strong performance. The pattern suggests a rotation away from some high-valuation growth names into domestically oriented, capital-intensive manufacturers and energy plays.
Not every sector participated. Insurance, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were among the laggards, with innovative drug makers especially pressured: several mid‑cap biotech names fell sharply on profit-taking and a reassessment of clinical and commercial timelines. The divergence between speculative thematic gains and defensive sectors underscores how segmented the market remains.
Policy and market structure provide useful context. China has encouraged private participation in space and advanced manufacturing over recent years, and a steady flow of policy signals and commercial launches has fuelled investor expectations about long-term addressable markets. At the same time, China’s market is dominated by retail flows and daily trading limits, features that can amplify momentum and create abrupt sector rotations.
For global investors, the episode is a reminder that domestic policy priorities and retail-driven sentiment can move prices quickly in Chinese equities. Commercial space is a strategic, dual‑use sector with potentially deep industrial links and supply‑chain implications for satellite components, launch services and downstream data markets. Yet the frenzy of limit-up moves also raises questions about sustainability and valuation risks once the immediate narrative cools.