(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia declined, while Chinese stocks fluctuated ahead of a press briefing on Thursday likely to detail measures of support for the nation’s beleaguered property sector.
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MSCI’s Asia Pacific Index – a gauge for benchmarks in the region – fell for a third session, with equities in Sydney, Tokyo and Seoul all in the red. Shares in China swung between gains and losses with the mainland benchmark earlier falling as much as 1.3%, a more than 10% drop from it’s Oct. 8 high. S&P 500 futures were little changed while Treasuries were also steady in Asia.
Volatility in Chinese stocks has been high since late September, when a series of stimulus measures by the central bank unleashed a burst of optimism that’s now quickly cooling. Expectations are now growing to see if authorities are willing to deploy greater firepower to turn around the economy and markets.
A Bloomberg gauge of Chinese property shares gained, while some dollar bonds issued by Chinese real estate firms rose, as markets prepared for Thursday’s news conference by China’s housing minister. The focus will be on promoting what it called the steady and healthy development of the industry.
Any announcements “may only help property stocks for one or two days, but not the overall market,” said Kenny Wen, head of investment strategy at KGI Asia Ltd. “Only the property sector will be benefit and investors are still waiting for several trillion fiscal package.”
A broader weakness in the semiconductor sector was highlighted on Wednesday as Asian chip stocks including SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd declined. The moves partly reflected a slide in Dutch giant ASML Holding NV’s shares on Tuesday after it cut its 2025 outlook. In the US, Nvidia Corp. lost 4.7%, signaling a slowdown for some of the biggest bellwethers of the industry.
“The tech-led retreat triggered by the slump in chipmakers not only echoes earlier skepticism over the AI-driven rally but, more broadly, the slowdown in this economy-sensitive industry certainly does not bode well…
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