On Wednesday, August 26th, the investor sentiment barometer returned in full force! The broader financial sector exploded higher, with the fintech segment continuing its upward momentum. Sub-sectors including digital currency and internet brokerages all showed active trading.
Among the standout performers, 楚天龙 locked in its fourth consecutive daily limit-up, while 恒银科技 and 新大陆 both hit their daily limit-up caps. 兆日科技 closed with a gain exceeding 16%, and several other stocks including 大智慧, 同花顺, and 指南针 each rose by more than 3%. On the ETF front, the Fintech ETF Huabao (159851) saw noticeably increased trading activity and attention.
Based on comprehensive market information, the sustained activity in the fintech sector appears to be supported by two key factors. First, the brokerage sector generally delivered better-than-expected earnings in the first half of the year. Against a backdrop of shrinking trading volumes and cooling market sentiment, capital tends to gravitate toward sectors with reasonable valuations and solid earnings support. The fortunes of internet brokerages are closely tied to market activity levels, making them worthy of attention. Furthermore, fintech companies, acting as the "picks and shovels" suppliers for brokerages, are also poised to benefit from the release of demand driven by IT system upgrades and AI integration.
Second, the digital yuan continues its rapid expansion. Last week, the central bank announced that eight additional banks—including Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, Bohai Bank, and Bank of Shanghai—have been connected to the central bank's digital yuan system. This brings the total number of operating institutions from 22 to 30. The inclusion of more banks will accelerate the large-scale adoption of the digital yuan in retail payments, corporate settlements, and government service scenarios. This will spur incremental demand for system upgrades, hardware enhancements, and security encryption, creating significant market opportunities for financial IT service providers.
From a valuation perspective, the fintech sector is currently trading at historically low levels, enhancing its risk-reward profile. As of August 26, 2026, the Fintech Index has retraced 38% from its peak on August 25, 2025, indicating a relatively thorough technical correction. The index's forward price-to-earnings ratio stands at 43 times, placing it at the 14th percentile of the past three years. With valuations having retreated to historical lows, combined with expectations of fundamental recovery and ample market liquidity, the sector's high-beta characteristics suggest an improved configuration cost-performance ratio.
Looking at the fintech sector as a whole, Guotai Haitong Securities points out that the penetration of AI agents into various industries is gradually making them the infrastructure of the real world. This is pushing the fintech industry into a new phase of intelligent development with vast growth potential. The firm believes fintech investment is entering a new era of opportunity and recommends focusing on core companies benefiting across various sub-segments.
As an investment tool, the Fintech ETF Huabao (159851) and its feeder funds (Class A: 013477, Class C: 013478) track an index heavily weighted in computer and non-bank financial sectors. The portfolio covers popular themes such as internet brokerages, financial IT, cross-border payments, and AI applications, combining both financial cyclicality and technology growth attributes. Data sources include the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and Wind.
Reminder: Market volatility may be significant in the near term, and short-term gains or losses do not predict future performance. Investors are advised to invest rationally based on their own capital状况 and risk tolerance, with close attention to position sizing and risk management.
Risk Disclosure: The Fintech ETF Huabao passively tracks the CSI Fintech Thematic Index, which has a base date of June 30, 2014, and was published on June 22, 2017. The annual historical returns of the CSI Fintech Thematic Index from 2021 to 2025 were 7.16%, -21.40%, 10.03%, 31.54%, and 18.04% respectively. During the same period, the index's annualized volatility was 24.92%, 29.41%, 27.07%, 53.47%, and 34.54%. The index's constituent stocks are adjusted periodically according to its compilation rules, and backtested historical performance does not indicate future index performance. The index constituents mentioned in this article are for illustration only, and individual stock descriptions do not constitute investment advice of any form, nor do they represent the holdings or trading activities of any fund managed by the fund manager. The fund manager assesses the fund's risk level as R3-Medium Risk, suitable for balanced (C3) and above investors. Any information appearing in this article (including but not limited to individual stocks, comments, forecasts, charts, indicators, theories, and any form of expression) is for reference only. Investors are solely responsible for their own independent investment decisions. Furthermore, any views, analyses, or forecasts in this article do not constitute investment advice to readers of any form, and the authors are not liable for any direct or indirect losses resulting from the use of the content herein. Fund investment carries risks. Past performance of a fund does not represent its future performance. The performance of other funds managed by the fund manager does not constitute a guarantee of fund performance. Please invest cautiously.