The market experienced a day of volatile adjustments yesterday, with the three major indices all falling over 1%. The Shanghai Composite Index briefly dipped below the 4000-point mark during the session. The combined turnover for the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges reached 2.11 trillion yuan. In terms of sectors, green power and computing-power synergy concepts bucked the downward trend, while computing power leasing and oil & gas concepts also showed active performance. On the downside, sectors such as non-ferrous metals and steel weakened. By the market close, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.39%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 2.02%, and the ChiNext Index declined 1.11%.
In today's brokerage morning briefings, China Securities Co., Ltd. suggested that historical data indicates gold prices may have another 5% downside potential. Meanwhile, CITIC Securities highlighted that the release of the XPO technology whitepaper is reshaping value distribution within the optical module industry chain.
China Securities Co., Ltd. posits that the recent weakness in gold prices following the US-Iran conflict can be analyzed from four perspectives. Historical patterns show that after the outbreak of geopolitical conflicts, gold prices generally perform weakly, with declines being more common; significant price increases typically occur before the conflict erupts. The hedging effect of gold against US equities is not as strong as often perceived. In recent years, gold has exhibited a high positive correlation with US stocks; in the current context of a declining US market, holding gold may not provide effective protection. In the short term, a rising US dollar index and US Treasury yields are also exerting downward pressure on gold. Furthermore, after a sharp rally early in the year, gold's volatility spiked to historically high levels, potentially causing short-term market caution.
Referencing the historical extreme price decline observed after the Iran-Iraq War, current gold prices might still have around 5% downside potential. A stabilization in US equity markets could lay the groundwork for a broader recovery in market sentiment, potentially contingent on a de-escalation of the conflict. Additionally, a continued normalization of volatility levels is anticipated.
CITIC Securities notes that on March 11, 2026, Arista, in collaboration with over 45 industry partners, officially released the eXtra-dense Pluggable Optics (XPO) whitepaper. This document proposes a new standard for pluggable optical modules tailored for next-generation AI data centers. A single XPO module can deliver 12.8 Tbps bandwidth (64 channels × 200 Gbps), integrates a liquid cold plate supporting over 400W power consumption, and achieves 204.8 Tbps switching capacity within a single Open Rack Unit (1OU). This represents a fourfold increase in front-panel density compared to the existing OSFP standard.
The introduction of XPO signifies the official entry of AI data center optical interconnects into a new phase of "ultra-high density pluggability," which is expected to profoundly alter the product landscape and value distribution across the optical module industry chain. Companies with strategic advantages in high-speed optical modules, optical engines, and liquid cooling support solutions are recommended for close attention.