The front page of the Zhujiang Evening News yesterday showed the slumping of the China stock exchange. The Shanghai Composite index plummeted 150.01, or 4.8 percent, to close at 2,980.3, yesterday. From Bloomberg BusinessWeek:
China’s stocks plunged, driving the benchmark index down the most in almost eight months, on concern a government crackdown on the property market will increase bad loans and damp consumer spending.
China Vanke Co. and Poly Real Estate Group Co., the nation’s biggest developers, fell more than 8 percent after the State Council told banks to stop loans for third-home purchases. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. slid 4.9 percent, the most since October 2008. Anhui Conch Cement Co. led losses by construction material companies.
“The market is worried about the impact of government measures to tame property price increases,” said Xu Lirong, who oversees about $2.6 billion at Franklin Templeton Sealand Fund Management Co. in Shanghai. “I think more measures will be introduced.”
In other news, the lower left-hand is a small “real estate” corner, with the news items A section of house buyers desperate to “catch the last train,” and for the reselling of second-hand housing, “From next month, a false report of renovations costs can incur a 50,000 yuan fine.”
- Zhujiang Evening News (Chinese): Stock market declines sharply
- Bloomberg BusinessWeek: China Stocks Tumble Most in Eight Months on Property Loan Curbs