ETF Weekly Review: Batteries and New Energy Rise Strongly, Power Grid Equipment and Non-Ferrous Metals Gain Capital Against the Trend

Last week (March 9–13), the A-share market exhibited notable structural differentiation. The Shanghai Composite Index and related indices faced downward pressure, with the Shanghai Index declining slightly by 0.7%, and the STAR 50 Index retreating by 2.88%. Conversely, the Shenzhen indices performed against the trend, with the Shenzhen Component Index rising by 0.76% and the ChiNext Index rebounding strongly by 2.51%.

In terms of ETF performance, HALO assets, characterized by “heavy assets and low淘汰率,” continued to strengthen, driving the impressive performance of related commodity and stock ETFs. Notably, the China Securities Energy and Chemical ETF surged by 11.27% last week, with environmental protection, coal, and other thematic ETFs also ranking among the top gainers. Additionally, supported by industry favorable news, battery ETFs and ChiNext new energy ETFs also recorded significant gains last week.

Regarding capital flows, last week, aside from commodity ETFs, all other categories of ETFs experienced overall net outflows, with bond ETFs experiencing the largest outflow of 9.938 billion yuan. It is worth noting that while the growth rate of the Power Grid Equipment ETF slowed, it still maintained strong capital attraction, ranking first in net inflows among all market ETFs.

Multiple factors catalyzed the rise of battery and new energy ETFs

Last week coincided with the peak period for annual report disclosures of listed companies in the A-share market. On March 10, four leading companies in the battery industry chain—CATL (300750.SZ), Tinci Materials (002709.SZ), Boliwei (688345.SH), and Anfu Technology (603031.SH)—released their 2025 annual reports, all achieving “double growth” in revenue and net profit, injecting confidence into the sector.

Supported by excellent performance, the CSI Battery Index surged 8.4% last week, with many ETFs tracking this index leading the gains. Among them, the China Merchants Fund Battery ETF (561910.SH) increased by 8.48% over the week.

许荣漫, fund manager of招商基金’s Battery ETF, told Caixin that last week, the performance of leading battery companies surged, coupled with rising electricity demand under the AI wave and geopolitical factors affecting energy security, which boosted sector sentiment. Specifically, the industry chain’s production continued upward, with energy storage installations and bidding activity maintaining high growth. As of January 2026, new energy storage installations increased by 10.9 GWh, a 106% year-over-year increase, and in February, energy storage system tenders grew by 127% YoY.

In terms of valuation, the CSI Battery Theme Index currently trades at 33.77 times earnings, below the 10-year average of 65%.许荣漫 stated that looking ahead, global energy storage demand is expected to continue growing, and breakthroughs in solid-state batteries, sodium batteries, and other technologies could bring multiple positive catalysts to the battery industry chain.

Moreover, benefiting from the dual drivers of HALO assets and the battery sector, the Huaxia (159368.SZ) ChiNext New Energy ETF, covering segments like batteries, photovoltaics, and wind power, also gained a substantial 7.26%.

In this regard, 单宽之, fund manager of Huaxia Fund’s Quantitative Investment Department, pointed out that recent geopolitical events have heightened focus on energy security and independence, combined with the new demand generated by the AI technological revolution and the continued promotion of domestic green and low-carbon policies, marginally boosting the prosperity of the new energy sector.

He further analyzed that the “14th Five-Year Plan” explicitly aims to double non-fossil energy capacity over ten years, while also emphasizing anti-inflation measures, cracking down on low-price competition and disorderly expansion, shifting the industry from extensive scale growth to high-quality development. This will help optimize the supply-side structure, further enhancing the profitability certainty of leading enterprises. On the demand side, overall growth remains steady and positive, with domestic lithium battery production in March increasing by about 20% month-over-month, and energy storage cells becoming a key growth driver, reflecting that the industry is not seasonal and signals of profit recovery are becoming clearer. Overall, the new energy sector is expected to experience both long-term performance and valuation recovery.

Funds are actively positioning in power grid equipment and non-ferrous metals against the trend

Although the previously strong-performing power grid equipment sector experienced a correction last week, it still attracted funds against the trend. Huaxia Fund’s Power Grid Equipment ETF saw a net inflow of 3.126 billion yuan in a single week, making it the “fund-absorbing king.”

Additionally, funds showed a “buy more on dips” pattern in non-ferrous metals. The Tianhong Non-Ferrous Metals ETF fell 5.49% last week but still received a net inflow of 1.192 billion yuan, ranking seventh among ETFs by net inflow.

Meanwhile, well-performing products like Huatai-Pbrry’s Power ETF, Photovoltaic ETF, and GF Fund’s Power ETF also received active capital allocation.

On the outflow side, broad-based ETFs failed to reverse the net redemption trend. The E Fund ChiNext ETF, Huatai-Pbrry’s CSI 300 ETF, and Southern Fund’s CSI 500 ETF experienced the top three net outflows, with 3.313 billion yuan, 2.918 billion yuan, and 2.478 billion yuan respectively.

Contrasting with the contrarian inflows in non-ferrous metals, oil-related ETFs saw significant outflows: Guotai Fund’s Oil ETF, Penghua Oil ETF, and Huaxia Oil & Gas ETF were among the top ten ETFs with net outflows.

Short-term bond ETFs hit new highs in scale

In terms of scale changes, HuaFu Tong Short-term Bond ETF was the top weekly growth leader, increasing by 2.206 billion yuan to a total of 81.829 billion yuan. This product once again surpassed the 800 billion yuan mark, setting a new record for liquidity.

Following closely were Huaxia Fund’s Power Grid Equipment ETF and Energy Storage Battery ETF (E Fund), with increases of 2.118 billion yuan and 1.945 billion yuan respectively.

Among products with shrinking scale, Southern Fund’s CSI 500 ETF saw a decrease of 3.568 billion yuan in weekly size, making it the only ETF to shrink by more than 30 billion yuan in a single week.