The final dump of economic data for China in May failed to impress investors in the region, with Chinese and Japanese markets weak on the day and Hong Kong trading sideways after an early dip.
The lack of any change to the key Chinese official interest rates, coupled with more data revealing a worsening crisis in property, also disappointed investors, especially in China.
It’s clear that the fanfare around the measures announced on May 17 to help support the property sector has not yet taken effect. The 3.9% slump in new house prices over the year (with falls in 68 of the 70 major cities surveyed) was the steepest in nine years and surprised investors.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.55% at 3,015.89 points, the lowest close since April 16, while the blue-chip CSI300 Index was down 0.15% at 3,536.20 points.
In fact, the CSI300 and the Shanghai Composite are down nearly 5% since the May 17 announcement.
The losses in Shanghai were led by weakness in the real estate sector. A sub-index tracking the industry closed 2.6% lower on the day.
At the close of trade, the Hang Seng Index was flat at 17,936.12 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was also flat at 6,373.48 points.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei Index closed 1.8% lower and was weak all day.