Bank stocks are on the rise again!
Agricultural Bank of China rose more than 2% during the trading session, setting a new high. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Bank of Qingdao, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of Jiangsu, and Industrial Bank also followed with gains.
The CM BANK AH Preferred ETF, E Fund CSI Banks ETF, Southern CSI Banks ETF, Tianhong CSI Banks ETF, China Southern CSI Banks ETF, Huaxia CSI Banks ETF, Fullgoal CSI Banks ETF, Huitianfu CSI Banks ETF, Penghua CSI Banks ETF, and Huabao CSI Banks ETF all increased.
The A-share banking sector has risen by 15% this year. In terms of ETFs, the CM BANK AH Preferred ETF has risen by 20% year-to-date; the E Fund CSI Banks ETF, Southern CSI Banks ETF, Tianhong CSI Banks ETF, China Southern CSI Banks ETF, Huaxia CSI Banks ETF, Fullgoal CSI Banks ETF, Huitianfu CSI Banks ETF, Penghua CSI Banks ETF, and Huabao CSI Banks ETF have all risen by 15% year-to-date.
Bullish news is coming in.
1. Great Wall Asset Management increased its shareholding in China Construction Bank Corporation. On August 1, China Construction Bank announced that Great Wall Asset Management had increased its stake by 7.865 billion H shares, representing 3.01% of its total share capital.
2. On July 31, Bank of Qingdao released its interim performance report for the first half of 2025. Bank of Qingdao's revenue grew by 7.50% year-over-year, and net income attributable to shareholders increased by 16.05%. The bank maintained steady revenue growth and continued to achieve high profit growth, consistently ranking among the top-performing listed banks.
As of July 31, 2025, five banks have released their semi-annual performance bulletins, all showing a favorable growth trend. It is expected that the overall revenue and profit growth of listed banks in 2025H1 will marginally improve. Urban and rural commercial banks' performance remains at the top tier, while large state-owned banks are seeing marginal improvements in revenue and profit. The overall decline in the performance of joint-stock banks has narrowed, but there may still be significant divergence, with some individual stocks with strong performance potential likely to lead the way.
It is worth noting that this is not a phenomenon unique to A-shares; global bank stocks are also reaching new highs.
European bank stocks, once considered market outcasts, are now experiencing a golden moment and have become market darlings.
Last week, HSBC's share price hit a record high, while Barclays and Banco Santander's share prices reached their highest levels since 2008, and UniCredit's share price climbed to its highest point since 2011.
Thanks to a surge in long-term interest rates and an improved economic outlook, some European bank stocks have climbed to their highest points since the 2008 global financial crisis.
In the first half of the year, the STOXX Europe 600 Banks Index rose by 29%, marking its best half-year performance in nearly 28 years and becoming the best-performing sector in Europe. Starting in July, European banks continued to surge, with the STOXX Europe 600 Banks Index rising by 34% year-to-date.
Despite a slowdown in global economic growth, global bank stocks have become a highlight of the 2025 market, driven by policy expectations.
Data from Industrial Bank shows that, as of July 8, 2024, the global banking sector has risen by 52% since the beginning of the year.
Specifically, the banking sector indices in the United States, Europe, Japan, and China have risen by 49%, 65%, 53%, and 59% respectively, with the Hong Kong banking index achieving an even more impressive gain of 88%.
The bank stocks in these major markets have approached or exceeded their highest levels since 2010, and they have outperformed the broader market indices.
For example, in the United States, the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index has risen by 45% since the beginning of 2024, compared to a 31% increase in the S&P 500 Index over the same period.
In the A-share market, bank stocks have also been one of the strongest sectors, significantly outperforming the broader market. Since the beginning of 2024, the banking index has risen by 57%, while the CSI 300 Index has only increased by 18%.
Why is the banking industry, as a traditional sector, experiencing such a historic synchronized upturn?
One major factor is the global monetary easing environment in recent years, where an abundance of liquidity and a scarcity of assets have made banks, as repositories of capital, more valuable.
Moreover, the common changes in the global macroeconomic environment are significant drivers behind this phenomenon.
According to Zhang Qiyao, the Chief Strategy Analyst at Industrial Securities, as the global economy enters an era of low growth and policy and geopolitical uncertainties intensify, banks, as stable and sustainable dividend-paying 'certain assets,' are experiencing a revaluation.
