China stocks fall after central bank leaves key rate unchanged

China stocks fell on Friday, on course to book the first weekly decline in five, after the country's central bank left a key policy rate unchanged, while declining home prices dragged property shares lower.

China stocks fell on Friday, on course to book the first weekly decline in five, after the country's central bank left a key policy rate unchanged, while declining home prices dragged property shares lower. ** China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5%, while the blue-chip CSI300 Index slipped 0.2% by the midday break.

** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng dropped 2.1%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slumped 2.4%. ** The broad Asian stocks market also slumped, tracking tech-led declines on Wall Street overnight after hotter-than-forecast U.S. inflation knocked back bets for how soon and often the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.

** China's central bank left the one-year medium-term lending facility rate unchanged while withdrawing cash from a medium-term policy loan operation on Friday, as authorities continued to prioritise currency stability amid uncertainty over the timing of expected Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. ** "We expect there is limited room for PBOC (People's Bank of China) policy easing before global central banks start to cut rates," said Lynn Song, chief economist, Greater China at ING.

** China's new home prices dropped for an eighth straight month in February, official data showed on Friday, suggesting the fragile property market is struggling to find a bottom despite a slew of measures to shore up the sector. ** New home prices fell 0.3% month-on-month, in line with January's decline. On a year-on-year basis, prices fell 1.4%, faster than the 0.7% drop in January and the biggest decline in 13 months.

** The CSI 300 Real Estate Index lost 1.1%, and the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index slumped 3.3%. ** Shares in energy, new energy, artificial intelligence dropped between 1.4% and 1.7%.

** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong tumbled 2.8%.

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