A-Shares Gainers and Losers Ranking

What Is It / Concept Explanation

What does it mean when a stock goes up 10% in a single day? The price change percentage is the most intuitive indicator of stock price volatility. Price Change (%) = (Current Price - Previous Close) / Previous Close × 100%. The China A-shares market has a ±10% daily price limit (±5% for ST stocks, ±20% for the STAR Market and ChiNext). This ranking tool helps you quickly identify the top gainers and biggest losers over any time frame (e.g., today, 5 days, 1 month).

Principles and Formulas / Algorithm

There is only one core formula:

Price Change (%) = (Ending Price - Beginning Price) / Beginning Price × 100%

The Beginning Price is usually the previous closing price (for daily changes) or the closing price on the start date (for multi-day periods). Why is this calculation reasonable? Because percentage changes eliminate the differences in absolute stock prices—a $10 increase on a $100 stock and a $1 increase on a $10 stock both have the exact same proportional impact on an investor's returns. The ranking tool sorts stocks from highest to lowest based on this ratio.

How to Use This Tool

1. Select the "Start Date" and "End Date" at the top (the default end date is today).
2. In the "Board Filter" dropdown, check the Shanghai/Shenzhen Main Board, ChiNext, STAR Market, or All.
3. Click the "Query Ranking" button.
4. The table on the bottom left will display the top 100 stocks sorted by price increase in descending order, including the ticker symbol, name, latest price, and price change (%).
5. The card on the right shows summary statistics such as the Median Price Change and the Percentage of Advancing Stocks for the period.

Complete Example / Practical Steps

Let's look at a specific example: Suppose today is March 20, 2025, and we want to know which stocks have been the strongest over the last 5 trading days (March 14 – March 20).

• Select 2025-03-14 in the "Start Date" input field.
• Keep the default 2025-03-20 in the "End Date" input field.
• Select "All A-Shares" for the board filter, then click query.
• The first row of the ranking table shows: Ticker 600000 (Shanghai Pudong Development Bank), Price Change 8.52%. The card on the right side of the calculator shows a median price change of -1.3% and that 34% of stocks advanced.
• Interpretation: An 8.52% gain in 5 days is a strong breakout, but you should check if this was driven by news; a negative median indicates the overall market is relatively weak.

More Examples / Multi-Scenario Comparison

Let's look at an edge case: Select 2024-02-05 (the last trading day before the Spring Festival) as the start date and 2024-02-08 (the third trading day after the holiday) as the end date. Because significant volatility often occurs around the Spring Festival holiday, the query results will show that ST board stocks are generally capped at a 5% gain, while STAR Market stocks might exceed 15%. This example reminds you: directly comparing absolute percentage values across different boards with different daily limits can be misleading.

How to Interpret the Results / Value Meanings

Note: The daily limit for the STAR Market/ChiNext is 20%, so the above thresholds should be adjusted proportionally.

Common Mistakes / Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Using adjusted prices instead of actual traded prices: Price change calculations should be based on actual closing prices (unadjusted); otherwise, distortions will occur on ex-dividend/ex-rights days. The tool uses forward-adjusted prices by default, but you can switch to "Unadjusted" in the settings.
2. Ignoring trading halts: If a stock is suspended during the period, its price change is 0, which may lower its ranking. The tool labels suspended stocks as "Halted," and they should be excluded when referencing the data.
3. Confusing intraday amplitude with price change: The rolling leaderboard displays closing price comparisons, not instantaneous intraday fluctuations.
4. Comparing daily price changes with multi-day cumulative changes: A 5-day gain of 8.52% ≠ the simple addition of daily gains, due to compounding.
5. Not accounting for dividends and rights issues: Price changes do not include dividend yields; you need to look at the "Total Return" metric for that.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Why are there price changes exceeding 10%?
   The daily limits for the STAR Market, ChiNext, and Beijing Stock Exchange are 20%, 20%, and 30%, respectively; new IPOs have no limit on their first day of trading. This tool displays the actual price change according to the respective board.
2. Why isn't my watchlist stock on the leaderboard?
   The leaderboard defaults to showing only the top 100 stocks, and the same applies to the losers list. You can enter a ticker symbol or name in the search box to query the price change for a specific stock.
3. What is the difference between "Period Gain" and "YTD Gain"?
   Period gain is the price change between your selected start and end dates; YTD (Year-to-Date) gain uses the first trading day of the current year as the base period. The tool currently only provides period calculations.
4. Can this tool be used for futures or Hong Kong stocks?
   No, this tool's data source only covers A-shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. It does not include B-shares, indices, or ETFs (however, equity ETF tickers starting with 5 might be mistakenly included, so please filter accordingly).
5. Can the price change ranking guide my trading?
   No. The price change leaderboard reflects past price movements and does not constitute investment advice. Blindly buying the top-gaining stocks often leads to chasing highs and incurring losses.
6. Why don't the numbers I see match my brokerage app?
   If your brokerage app adjusts for rights/dividends, it will cause discrepancies. This tool uses official exchange closing prices. On ex-dividend or rights issue days, we recommend using the "Backward-Adjusted" mode to view the true value change.

Limitations and Disclaimers

This tool's data comes from public market feeds and may have a 1-2 second delay, making it unsuitable for high-frequency trading decisions. Price change calculations are based solely on closing prices and do not include transaction costs (commissions, stamp duties). Data may be incomplete during abnormal market volatility (such as circuit breakers or temporary halts). The leaderboard does not constitute investment advice, and any trading decisions made based on the values from this tool are at your own risk. We recommend cross-referencing data with professional brokerage terminals (such as Wind or iFinD) before making actual investment decisions.

You can now select dates and boards in the calculator above to verify your own stock-picking strategies.