On August 18, China's three major A-share indices opened lower, dipped, and then recovered; the Shanghai Composite Index eventually closed up 0.19%, the Shenzhen Component down 0.56%, and the ChiNext down 0.92%. The Star 50 index edged up 0.11%.
Total market turnover reached 2.42 trillion yuan, with more than 3,200 individual stocks declining.
On the day, the agriculture sector performed strongly with several stocks hitting the daily limit; semiconductor equipment concept stocks also rose. In addition, the oil and gas, motorcycle, petrochemical, education, gas, and shipping sectors all rose to varying degrees. In contrast, the internet sector led the declines, while industries such as cultural media, brokerages, communications equipment, computer hardware, aerospace and defense, and insurance posted losses.
