China New Home Price Decline Extends to 7th Month, China and India Register Weekly Gains

Arjun Pandit
23 Feb, 2024
Mumbai

Markets in China traded down but gained in India, Korea, and Australia after investors reassessed the global rate outlook, China's property market slump, and a string of positive earnings in Japan, the U.S., and Europe. 

In overnight trading, the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite in New York jumped more than 2% after the closely watched semiconductor company and maker of graphics cards reported a sharp jump in revenue and earnings, surpassing market expectations. 

Nvidia's solid earnings fueled a rally in artificial intelligence-linked stocks and rippled around the world, lifting market indexes to new highs in Japan, Germany, and France in Thursday's trading. 

The Nikkei 225 index soared 2.2% to 39,098.68 and jumped to a new record high in Thursday's trading. 

Financial markets in Japan are closed on Friday to celebrate the Emperor's Birthday holiday. 

The Kospi index in Seoul added 0.3% and trimmed the weekly decline to 0.4%, and the ASX 200 index advanced 0.4% and cut the weekly losses to 0.3%. 

 

China Stocks Halt Weeklong Rally 

China indexes traded down in Friday's trading, and investors booked profit following a worldwide surge after Nvidia's results and current-year outlook for its AI chip-powered cards and servers surpassed market expectations. 

The CSI 300 index, the popular index with institutional investors tracking mainland stocks, halted its eight-day rally, the longest market stretch since July 2020. 

The CSI 300 index decreased 0.2% to 3,479.51, and the Hang Seng Index declined 0.4% to 16,680.17, but extended the weekly gain to over 2.4%. 

Benchmark indexes in Shanghai and Hong Kong traded down after new home prices in the 70 largest cities declined 0.7% from a year ago in January. 

Home prices declined for the seventh month in a row and fell at the fastest pace since March 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Friday. 

Home prices in the two largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai, advanced, defying the national trend. 

The annual home price increase in Beijing moderated to 1.3% from 1.7% and in Shanghai to 4.2% from 4.7% a year ago, respectively. 

However, investors bid up property developers' stocks after fewer cities recorded a monthly price decline. New home prices fell 0.3% in January from the previous month, after falling 0.4% in December. 

Longfor Group, China Resources Land, China Vanke, and Sun Hung Kai Properties advanced between 1% and 4%. 

Tech stocks rallied and participated in the global surge in semiconductor and artificial intelligence-linked stocks after Nvidia's blowout earnings. 

However, Alibaba Group, Tencent, and JD.com declined around 1%, but Baidu and Trip.com jumped more than 3%. 

 

India Stocks Extend Weekly Gain, Nifty Trades at New Record High

Stocks in Mumbai advanced in early trading amid positive global market sentiment, and the rupee strengthened. 

The Nifty and the Sensex indexes advanced as investors reviewed the latest minutes of the RBI's policy meeting. 

Committee members voiced caution about lowering the interest rate too soon amid volatile and rising food price inflation. 

Members also discussed the difficulty of lowering inflation from near 5% to below the target rate of 4%. 

The Sensex index increased 236.20 points to 73,394.44, and the Nifty index rose 72.55 points to 22,290.03. 

On the Mumbai stock exchange, 101 stocks traded at their 52-week highs and 3 stocks traded at their 52-week lows.

The yield on the 10-year Indian government bonds decreased to 7.06%, and the Indian rupee strengthened to ₹82.85 against the U.S. dollar.

Olectra Greentech increased 1.9% to ₹2,102.95 after the company, in collaboration with Evey Trans, received a ₹4,000 crore award to supply and maintain 2,400 buses by BEST in Mumbai. 

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking, or BEST, is the sole operator of local bus services in Mumbai.