SHANGHAI: China stocks were largely flat on Thursday as a lack of fresh stimulus from a closely-watched housing policy briefing left some investors disappointed, while tech giants helped Hong Kong shares trade higher.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index were both up less than 0.1% by the midday break. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng was up 0.9%.
China will expand a “white list” of housing projects eligible for financing and increase bank lending for such developments to 4 trillion yuan ($562 billion), Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong said at a briefing.
“The briefing is mainly about implementing previously announced policies, including some already in operation,” said Shi Jiangwei, analyst at Shanghai Minority Asset Management.
The planned 1 million houses in “urban villages” also undershot expectations, and pales in comparison with Beijing’s large-scale shantytown renovation scheme launched in 2015,Shanghai Minority analysts said.
Property stocks traded in China tumbled 5%, while those in Hong Kong were down 3.5%, reversing gains of the previous session.
Sentiment towards China’s property sector has been a key gauge watched by stock investors as the world’s second-largest economy is dealing with a downturn in the real estate market.
Property developer Sunac’s discounted share sale also weighed on the property sector on Thursday.
The embattled firm said it is seeking to raise HK$1.21 billion ($155.70 million) to repay its existing corporate debt. Sunac shares plunged more than 20%.
China stocks wobble as investors await further stimulus
One of the few bright spots in the Chinese stock market was information technology, which rose 2.3%. Tech giants listed in Hong Kong rose 1.4%.
Market participants are now waiting for third-quarter GDP data and other key economic indicators to gain further insight into China’s economic recovery.
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