Investing.com – Asian stocks fell in Monday with Chinese property developers among the worst affected after media reports that a medium-sized bank is tightening its financing to these companies.
Also on Monay, China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that country’s house prices, which are on the transactions involving conventional and conforming mortgages, rose 9.6% in January from a 9.9% gain in December.
Chinese property developers China Vanke Co. fell 5.9% while Gemdale Corporation fell 5.5% in Shanghai.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.65%, the Shanghai Composite index went down by 2.04%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.36%.
During the weekend G-20 officials concluded their summit in Australia with an announcement that over the next few years they expect the global economy to grow by more than $2 trillion with the help of a strategy laid out by IMF.
In New Zealand, the Reserve Bank reported on Monday that the credit card spending in the country rose by 9.2% in January compared to a 4.7% rise in December.
On Friday, at the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.19%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.19%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.10%.
The National Association of Realtors reported earlier that U.S. existing home sales declined 5.1% to 4.62 million units last month, outpacing expectations for a 4.3% drop to 4.68 million units.
In December, existing home sales were revised to a 0.8% rise to 487 million units from an initially estimated 1% increase.
The Federal Reserve has said it will pay close attention to data when deciding the pace at which it winds down its $65 billion monthly bond-buying program, which boosts stocks by lowering borrowing costs.
Stock-market investors concluded, however, that even if the Fed does take its time winding down the program, bond purchases are still on their way out.