Container shipping and port near-term demand is beating expectations. The September Logistics Managers' Index (LMI) re-accelerated to 70.2, up 3.6 points month-on-month, with transport prices staying elevated and transport capacity contracting for a tenth straight month, consistent with late-cycle restocking impulses; U.S. imports also remain firm, with the Port of Los Angeles logging its busiest three-month stretch on record from June to August. Global port congestion has risen to roughly 13% of the fleet (versus about 8% in April), and the industry continues to report bottlenecks at Asian ports caused by concentrated vessel arrivals and typhoons, weakening schedule reliability and absorbing effective capacity. Panama Canal slot availability and draft conditions have improved somewhat, but last weekend's earthquake is a reminder that the operating environment can shift quickly; the canal authority says operations are so far unaffected, though risks remain skewed to the downside if conditions deteriorate. JPMorgan said in a research note that the latest third-quarter 2026 data continues to show near-term demand is better than market fears, and that operational friction remains a meaningful support for utilization and yields, with the bank maintaining an overweight stance on the Asian shipping and ports sector. The bank believes that despite lingering medium-term supply risks, congestion and demand resilience are translating into stronger pricing power and margins. On ports, China Merchants Port Holdings Co Ltd (HKEX: 00144) is seen as a beneficiary of sustained or even locally worsening congestion, rated "overweight." On Asian liners, the bank remains constructive with "overweight" ratings on SITC International Holdings Co Ltd (HKEX: 01308), COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co Ltd (HKEX: 01919), Evergreen Marine Corp (TWSE: 2603), Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (HKEX: 00316), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (TYO: 9104) and T.S. Lines Co Ltd (HKEX: 02510), citing business mix, regional exposure and execution capabilities that help capture the current freight rate environment.

Market Outlook

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 0.14%. Overnight U.S. stocks closed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 180.45 points at 51,670.1, a decline of 0.35%; the S&P 500 down 1.79 points at 7,805.45, a decline of 0.02%; and the Nasdaq Composite down 41.52 points at 27,204.38, a decline of 0.15%. Large-cap tech stocks were mixed, with Meta up 2.63% and Nvidia up 0.97%; memory chip names fell broadly, with SanDisk down 0.34%, SK Hynix down 3.19% and Micron down 3.62%; space-related stocks fell broadly, with SpaceX down 4.21%; oil and gas stocks rose broadly, with ConocoPhillips up 2.43%. Popular Chinese ADRs were mixed, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 0.14%. Li Auto rose 3.07% and NIO rose 2.59%. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the front-month WTI crude oil futures contract rose $1.05 to settle at $94.79 a barrel, a gain of 1.12%. The front-month COMEX gold futures contract fell $6.40, or 0.15%, to $4,184.2 an ounce.

Key Developments to Watch

OPEC raised its 2027 global oil demand growth forecast on Tuesday, saying the world needs to rebuild oil inventories after the Iran conflict depleted stocks. OPEC's monthly report also cut its 2026 oil demand growth forecast for a sixth consecutive time. The report additionally showed that crude output from the broader OPEC+ producer group rose sharply in September, led by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's top producer, reported to the group that its September crude output was 8.372 million barrels per day, an increase of more than 2 million bpd from August. A closed-door meeting of polysilicon leaders in Hangzhou on a "price floor" was reported. GCL confirmed the meeting was real, saying prices of no less than 43,000 yuan per ton would avoid losses. Late on October 12, self-media outlet "Taiwa Energy" reported that on October 11, leading Chinese photovoltaic companies including Tongwei and GCL held a closed-door meeting in Hangzhou to set price floors for polysilicon and module segments, stressing that export products as well as social procurement and bidding prices should also be no lower than those floors. The meeting agreed that the average cost of polysilicon, including tax, must be no less than 43,000 yuan per ton, with anything below that deemed low-price dumping; on modules, BC module prices must be no less than 0.86 yuan/W and TOPCon modules no less than 0.79 yuan/W. On the morning of October 13, a relevant executive at GCL Technology confirmed the meeting took place, while a GCL Group executive said of the specific polysilicon and module prices that "as long as you don't go below this price, you definitely won't lose money; otherwise no one would set this threshold."

China Jinmao Holdings Group Ltd (HKEX: 00817) reported cumulative contracted sales of 84.601 billion yuan for the first nine months, up 4.85% year-on-year. In an announcement, the company said that in September 2026 the group achieved contracted sales of 10.501 billion yuan, with contracted sales floor area of 361,100 square meters. For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, the group's cumulative contracted sales totaled 84.601 billion yuan, up 4.85% year-on-year (including, where applicable, sales from the Changsha Meixihu International New Town project, the Nanjing Qinglongshan International Eco-New Town project, the Ningbo Life Science City project, the Jiaxing Shanghai Window Smart Science City project, the Zhengzhou Erqi District Mazhai New Town project, the Wenzhou Aojiang International New Town project, the Jinhua Jinmao Future Science City project and the Shanghai Hengmian urban operation project), along with cumulative contracted sales floor area of 3.1002 million square meters.

CMOC Group Ltd (HKEX: 03993) said its wholly owned subsidiary plans to contribute a combined 900 million yuan to subscribe for shares in two private equity funds. In a statement, the company said that to further expand investment channels and improve investment returns, its wholly owned subsidiary Tibet Shimoke plans to subscribe for fund shares as a limited partner: 500 million yuan of its own funds for shares in the Nanjing Yuanfeng Fund and 400 million yuan of its own funds for shares in the Hexie Growth Phase IV Fund.

Duiba Group Ltd (HKEX: 01753) expects its AI short-drama business to record net profit for three consecutive months in July, August and September 2026. In an announcement, the company said that leveraging its leading capabilities and long experience in traffic distribution, data and AI technology, its AI short-drama business has shown strong growth since launching in January 2026. The business maintained rapid growth in the third quarter of 2026.

Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co Ltd (HKEX: 01157) plans to transfer a 29.99% stake in Road Tanker Science and Technology. The company announced that on October 13, 2026, it signed a share transfer agreement with Yuanzhuo Angel New Energy Partnership to transfer 35.988 million shares of Road Tanker Science and Technology at 25 yuan per share, representing 29.99% of its total share capital, for a total transfer price of 900 million yuan. The company also plans to file for a partial tender offer for 14% of Road Tanker Science and Technology shares. After the transaction is completed, the company will no longer be the controlling shareholder of Road Tanker Science and Technology; the agreed transfer still requires compliance confirmation from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and completion of share transfer registration.

NetEase's game "Where Winds Meet" will support Nvidia's DLSS 5 technology. On October 13, "Where Winds Meet" officially announced that it expects to officially support NVIDIA DLSS 5 technology in November, making it the first game in China and currently the only NetEase game to officially support DLSS 5.

Genscript said CARVYKTI sales in the third quarter of 2026 were about $710 million. Genscript Biotech announced that it had previously disclosed preliminary sales for CARVYKTI for the quarters ended March 31, 2026 and June 30, 2026. Legend announced on October 13, 2026 that net trade sales of CARVYKTI for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 were about $710 million, based on information provided by Janssen, and neither Legend nor Genscript independently verified its accuracy.

Akeso Inc (HKEX: 09926) plans to place a total of 20 million placement shares to raise net proceeds of about HK$1.941 billion. In an announcement, the company said that on October 14, 2026, it entered into a placing agreement with placing agents, under which it has conditionally agreed to place a total of 20 million placement shares through the agents to no fewer than six placees at HK$97.76 per placement share. The placing price of HK$97.76 per share represents a discount of about 6.90% to the closing price of HK$105.00 per share reported on the Stock Exchange on October 13, 2026. The placement shares will represent about 2.13% of the company's enlarged issued share capital. Assuming all 20 million placement shares are fully subscribed, gross proceeds after completion of the placement will be about HK$1.955 billion, with estimated net proceeds of about HK$1.941 billion.

Stock Spotlight

TravelSky Technology Ltd (HKEX: 00696) recently reached a cooperation with Malaysia Airlines to strengthen digital sales and regional layout. Recently, Malaysia Airlines signed a memorandum of cooperation with TravelSky. The two sides will establish a commercial cooperation framework around digital distribution and regional market expansion, focusing on building a multi-platform digital sales ecosystem and deepening cooperation in key regional markets to drive sustainable business growth. In addition, self-developed KIOSK and DGUI systems from TravelSky have been deployed at airports in Frankfurt and Kuala Lumpur. Huatai Securities believes that China's civil aviation travel is expected to continue penetrating, driving stable growth in the company's core aviation information platform. At the same time, as a leader in the civil aviation information sector, TravelSky is expected to leverage opportunities such as Chinese airlines going global, NDC and airport digitalization to achieve continued profit improvement.