Mainland China and Hong Kong Stocks Decline, Property Sector Drags

Mainland China and Hong Kong stocks closed lower on Monday, impacted by weaker-than-expected data showing continued struggles in the property sector. Despite some positive retail sales due to a holiday boost, the overall economic outlook remained weak. Key indices like the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng ended the session nearly flat or lower.

Mainland China and Hong Kong stocks ended lower on Monday, with the key benchmark closing at its lowest level in more than two months, dented by a flurry of weaker-than-expected data that showed the property sector remains a key drag on the economy.

** China's central bank left a key policy rate unchanged, as expected, when rolling over maturing medium-term loans, and drained some funds from the banking system. ** The Asian country's May industrial output lagged expectations and a crisis in the property sector showed no signs of easing, adding pressure on Beijing to shore up growth, though retail sales beat forecasts due to a holiday boost.

** China's new home prices fell at the fastest pace in more than 9-1/2 years in May, official data showed on Monday, with the property sector struggling to find a bottom despite government efforts to rein in oversupply and support debt-laden developers. ** Data on Friday showed new bank lending in China rebounded far less than expected in May and some key money gauges hit record lows, suggesting the world's second-largest economy is still struggling for footing.

** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.55% at 3,015.89 points, the lowest close since April 16. ** The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.15% at 3,536.20 points.

** The session's losses were led by weakness in the real estate sector. A sub-index tracking the industry closed 2.6% lower. ** The smaller Shenzhen index ended flat for the day and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.8%.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was flat at 17,936.12 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index was also roughly flat at 6,373.48 points. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng, tracking energy shares , dipped 1.6% and the property sector slipped 0.7%.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.2%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed 1.8% lower. ** The yuan was quoted at 7.2560 per U.S. dollar, as of 0809 GMT, compared with the previous close of 7.2557.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)