SHANGHAI: China and Hong Kong stocks closed lower on Thursday, as a lack of fresh stimulus from a closely-watched housing policy briefing left some investors disappointed.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both ended lower by more than 1%. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng was down 1%.
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 and Hong Kong tumbled 7.9% and 6.7%, respectively, 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 27%. One of the few bright spots in the Chinese stock market was information technology, up nearly 1%.
Tech giants listed in Hong Kong dropped 1.2%, reversing gains made in the morning.
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