Chinese stock markets up after sweeping measures to boost housing sector, property shares pop

Stocks in China and Hong Kong got a boost on Friday after China’s central bank announced sweeping measures to boost the slumping property market.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 index rose 1% on Friday, closing at 3,677.97 and marking an eight month high, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also gained about 1%, powered by real estate stocks.

In a series of announcements, the People’s Bank of China said minimum mortgage down payments will be lowered and the floor on minimum mortgage interest rates removed.

Earlier, a slew of data out of China pointed to slowing consumption, as retail sales rose 2.3% in April from a year earlier but missed expectations. Fixed asset investment rose by 4.2% from January to April, but was lower than the 4.6% expected increase.

Investors also assessed data from Singapore, which showed non-oil domestic exports in April declined by 9.3%, slower than the preceding month.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.34% to, 38,787.38, while the broad-based Topix reversed early declines to add 0.3%, ending the day at 2,745.62. Both indexes recorded weekly gains of 1.51% and 0.89% respectively.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.03%, closing at 2,724.62 after the country’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.8% in April, while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.76% to 855.06.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.85% to 7,814.4.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed slightly lower, after briefly jumping above 40,000 for the first time.

The blue-chip index hit a high of 40,051.05. It had neared the 40,000 mark earlier this year before a slight April pullback on worries over high interest rates.

During the session, the S&P 500 also climbed to a new record after closing above the 5,300 level for the first time ever on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also hit an all-time high.

The 30-stock Dow ended the day down 0.1% at 39,869.38. The S&P 500fell 0.21%, while the Nasdaq Composite finished the day 0.26% lower.

Source from CNBC : https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/17/asia-markets.html