Business

Markets mixed as China's latest stimulus leaves traders wanting

Agence France-Presse

October 17, 2024 | 4:31pm

Markets mixed as China's latest stimulus leaves traders wanting

People walk in front of an electronic board showing a share price of the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on April 5, 2024.

AFP / Kazuhiro Nogi

HONG KONG, China — Stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong slipped on a mixed day for Asian markets Thursday as Chinese traders gave shrug to Beijing's latest plan to boost the country's troubled property sector, which came up short of expectations.

China's housing minister outlined a fresh batch of measures in the latest bid to convince traders the government was getting a handle on a painful real-estate crisis.

The world's number-two economy has struggled to recover since lifting strict Covid controls at the end of 2022, battered by a debt crisis in the property sector and torpid consumer demand.

Authorities announced a series of piecemeal measures in that time to little effect, but last month's raft of pledges sparked blockbuster rallies on the mainland and Hong Kong on hopes that even more were in the pipeline.

But news conferences last Tuesday and Saturday took the wind out of those sails and led to a fresh bout of volatility in trading floors.

And analysts said the latest briefing from housing minister Ni Hong also left investors wanting.

Ni said Thursday that officials would almost double the amount of credit available to complete unfinished housing projects to $562 billion and also help renovate a million homes.

The move, he said, would "be conducive to absorbing the existing stock of commercial housing".

But SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes said: "They're still trying to talk the talk, with more noise about stabilising the property market.

"As the briefing rolled on, it was clear: traders were not thrilled.

"Let's be honest, though -- China's property mess isn't something that can be patched up with a few speeches and half-baked measures."

Hong Kong and Shanghai dropped more than one percent, having started the day on a strong note, with property stocks -- which had rocketed in the wake of the initial round of measures -- tumbling.

There were also losses in Tokyo, Seoul, Manila and Mumbai, while London, Paris and Frankfurt all opened higher.

Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta also rose.

Heron Lim at Moody's Analytics said the latest round of announcements suggested China was "on its way to finding the bottom in housing prices".

However, he added: "We did not see an increase in funding for the purchasing of unsold inventory by (state-owned enterprises), which would have helped stabilise demand in the property segment.

"And the promise of reconstruction projects being expanded might be useful to spark a construction segment that has been in a lull from a lack of both private and public projects, but it remains just a promise with no number promised beyond the known 1 million homes thus far."

The tepid performance in Asia came after a strong lead from New York, where small-cap stocks rose as investors shifted out of big-name firms such as Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, which have soared this year on the back of demand for all things linked to artificial intelligence.

US investors also welcomed strong earnings from Morgan Stanley and United Airlines that helped offset a decision by Dutch tech giant ASML to cut its 2025 guidance and forecast a slump in sales bookings, which sparked worries over the outlook for the sector.