News

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Fire and Rescue Administration issued a notice on promoting the healthy and orderly development of new-type performance venues, proposing to drive innovative development. It supports new-type performance venues in strengthening innovation, exploring applications such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, promoting the use of high-end equipment with independent intellectual property rights, and creating more high-quality productions. It also supports various regions in developing clusters of new-type performance venues, attracting high-quality talent, sharing creative and rehearsal resources, building brand effects, and continuously enhancing market competitiveness.

Texas Instruments (TXN.O) has agreed to acquire chipmaker Silicon Labs for $7.5 billion. According to a joint statement released by the two companies, shareholders of Silicon Labs will receive $231 in cash per share. The transaction is expected to be completed in H1 2027. Silicon Labs' chips are widely used in smart home devices, industrial automation, battery ESS, and commercial lighting, among other fields. Through this acquisition, Texas Instruments demonstrates its continued focus on its core business. Last week, the world's largest analog chip manufacturer issued a surprisingly strong sales guidance, indicating that demand from industrial clients and automakers is recovering. Due to its significant role in the global supply chain, Texas Instruments has, to some extent, become a barometer of the overall economy, reflecting enterprises' confidence in future sales prospects.

Nasdaq is considering introducing a "fast entry" rule to accelerate the inclusion of newly listed large companies. The proposed amendment would allow newly listed firms to join the Nasdaq-100 Index after just 15 trading days, significantly shorter than the current waiting period of at least three months. This move aims to make the index more reflective of the market in a timely manner. In the current environment, enterprises often delay their listings for years, and once they enter the public market, they release substantial market capitalization. Companies expected to go public this year include SpaceX, which could reach a potential valuation of $1.3 trillion, making it one of the largest companies by market value in the Nasdaq-100 Index. The "fast entry" rule is part of an industry consultation proposal, with discussions expected to conclude later this month. If approved by the Nasdaq Index Committee after the consultation period, the adjustment will take effect following the quarterly rebalancing in March.

Guo Shougang, Deputy Director General and First-Level Inspector of the First Department of Equipment Industry at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stated at a special press conference held by the State Administration for Market Regulation on the 4th that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will continue to thoroughly implement the requirements of the National Standardization Development Outline and the NEV Industry Development Plan (2021–2035), among others. It will accelerate the development of key standards in areas such as driving automation, crash safety, and control components, promoting the enhancement of automotive safety levels and quality performance through standard upgrades, thereby laying a solid foundation for the high-quality and sustainable development of the industry.

[SMM Cast Aluminum Alloy Morning Comment: SHFE Aluminum Edged Down in Night Session, Erasing Daytime Gains] Spot market-wise, A00 aluminum price rebounded sharply by 470 yuan/mt from the previous trading day to 23,760 yuan/mt, while SMM ADC12 price rose by 150 yuan/mt to 23,800 yuan/mt. Futures showed a notable rebound, but secondary aluminum alloy plants' offers diverged: some enterprises raised their offers by 200 yuan/mt following the market trend, basically recovering the previous day's losses; others, constrained by weak orders, kept their offers stable for now. With aluminum prices rebounding, market procurement sentiment improved slightly compared to earlier, but downstream buyers still mainly made just-in-time procurement. On the supply side, approaching the Chinese New Year holiday, affected by reduced orders and environmental protection-related controls, some secondary aluminum alloy plants have arranged early holidays, with staggered production halts expected to start from the 5th, and the overall holiday duration is longer than the same period in previous years. Overall, downstream demand continues to shrink, and fundamental support for prices is marginally weakening; secondary aluminum alloy prices are expected to hover at highs in the short term.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: LME copper opened at $13,355.5/mt overnight, hitting an early high of $13,398/mt before copper prices fluctuated downward, touching a low of $12,949/mt near the close and finally settling at $13,040/mt, down 2.76%. Trading volume reached 26,000 lots, down 12,334 lots from the previous session; open interest stood at 332,000 lots, up 6,542 lots from the previous session, with the overall performance mainly reflecting increased bear positions. The most-traded SHFE copper 2603 contract opened at 104,000 yuan/mt overnight, hitting an early high of 104,700 yuan/mt before fluctuating downward, touching a low of 102,100 yuan/mt near the close and finally settling at 102,590 yuan/mt, down 2.22%. Trading volume reached 132,000 lots, down 109,000 lots from the previous session; open interest stood at 189,000 lots, down 3,579 lots from the previous session, with the overall performance mainly reflecting reduced bull positions.

[SMM Zinc Morning Comment] Overnight, the most-traded SHFE zinc 2603 contract opened at 24,785 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the session, it surged to a high of 24,980 yuan/mt, but then bulls reduced their positions and exited the market, causing the contract to fluctuate downward and touch a low of 24,725 yuan/mt. It maintained fluctuations at lows toward the end of the session, ultimately closing down at 24,770 yuan/mt.

[SMM Hot-Rolled Coil Daily Trading] On February 4, the total daily trading volume of hot-rolled coils from SMM's four-city (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, Ningbo) sample enterprises was 11,140 mt, up 500 mt (42.7%) MoM, up 4.7% YoY on a Gregorian calendar basis, and up 46.58% YoY on a lunar calendar basis.