After the opening of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets, the brokerage sector experienced a noticeable pullback, and market interpretations of this adjustment vary widely. Some believe this is just a normal short-term pause, part of a consolidation phase; others see it as the starting point of a new downward trend, full of risks. Diverging opinions are inevitable.

From the recent actual performance of the brokerage sector, several signals are worth noting. First, since the beginning of this year, the overall increase in the sector has significantly underperformed the broader market, far below the performance of major stock indices. Second, current valuations remain at historically low levels, with the overall level below the 90th percentile in history. Additionally, the Shanghai Composite Index has just completed fourteen consecutive days of gains, and some leading brokerage stocks have experienced large sell orders suppressing their prices. This has been interpreted in the market as a signal that the rapid rise of the index (or sector) is being restrained.

From a medium- to long-term perspective, under the background of a slow bull market and industry mergers and acquisitions, the sector still offers certain investment opportunities. In the short term, it is crucial to monitor whether the support level at 881 points holds; if it breaks, close attention should be paid to the support near 861 points.

Interestingly, although the brokerage sector has entered a correction cycle, this does not seem to have prevented the Shanghai Composite Index from continuing its "fifteen consecutive days of gains" trend. This kind of market control technique is indeed impressive.