Communications sector leads market gains, Southern Fund's Communications ETF rises over 4%, NVIDIA GTC delivers major catalyst! AI inference inflection point ignites trillion-dollar computing power market

As of the close on March 18, 2026, the Communication ETF Southern (159511) rose 4.31%, with a turnover rate of 8.15% and a transaction volume of 16.6201 million yuan. The tracking index, the CSI Communication Services Index (000936), surged strongly by 4.23%.

Recently, NVIDIA’s GTC 2026 conference emphasized the optical communication technology roadmap, establishing optical interconnection as the core path for AI computing power breakthroughs. The conference clarified the “copper and optical” strategy, with short-term development of copper cables and long-term collaboration on CPO, leading to a definitive explosion in the optical module, silicon photonics, and optical engine industry chains.

At the same time, Jensen Huang stated that the inflection point for the AI inference market has arrived. AI has fully transitioned from the training phase to inference and execution phases, with inference computing power demand experiencing exponential growth. NVIDIA will collaborate with the startup “Grok,” focused on inference technology, to launch AI server systems, thereby increasing its layout in low-cost, low-latency inference computing fields and supporting a trillion-level computing market.

Prior to the NVIDIA GTC and OFC conferences, Huatai Securities summarized potential catalysts for the communication sub-sector: 1) Optical modules—pay attention to NVIDIA’s stance on CPO technology; at the OFC conference, leading manufacturers will showcase NPO and XPO prototypes, so monitor on-site testing feedback; 2) Liquid cooling—focus on the implementation of Rubin’s solution, breakthroughs in Feynman generation upgrades, and progress in domestic supply chains; 3) Optical fibers—watch for breakthroughs in hollow-core fiber technology and commercial progress; 4) Copper connections—LPU may become a key catalyst, with cabinet form factors determining the lifespan of copper cables. Continue to monitor investment opportunities in the AI computing power chain.

The Communication ETF Southern (159511) closely tracks the CSI Communication Services Index, which reflects the overall performance of securities in different industries within the CSI 800 index. It provides investors with analytical tools by classifying the CSI 800 index components into 11 primary industries and 35 secondary industries. The index is composed of all securities within each primary and secondary industry, forming the CSI 800 Industry Index. The top ten holdings by weight are Zhongji Xuchuang, New Easy, Tianfu Communication, ZTE Corporation, Hengtong Optoelectronics, China Telecom, China Mobile, Runze Technology, Zhongtian Technology, and China Unicom.

Communication ETF Southern (159511), off-market connection (Type A: 020704; Type C: 020705).