By the midday break on August 19, 2026, the three principal A-share indices had all taken a significant hit. The Shanghai Composite Index retreated by 1.96%, the Shenzhen Component Index plummeted by 3.97%, and the ChiNext Index nosedived by 4.98%. Leading the downward charge were the CPO (Crude Palm Oil) and semiconductor sectors. Notably, Chaochun Yingcai and Hua Hong Semiconductor witnessed their stock prices plummet by over 10%. Similarly, Cambricon and GigaDevice experienced a downturn of over 8%, while ZTE Corp and Eoptolink Technology saw their values erode by more than 6%.

In contrast, the shipping and banking sectors demonstrated resilience. China COSCO Shipping, China Merchants Energy Shipping, and China CITIC Bank all enjoyed a surge, with their stock prices climbing over 4%. N Yushu stood out as an exceptional performer, skyrocketing by over 486% to reach RMB 883.87 per share. Nevertheless, the overall market sentiment remained bearish, with individual stocks generally trending downwards and over 4,900 stocks across the market recording losses.