Chinese stocks inch up after Beijing's fresh stimulus but property stocks slide

Chinese stocks made modest gains ​on Wednesday, finding some support ‌from ​Beijing's latest package of targeted credit-easing measures, though property stocks slid as steps aimed at helping the sector underwhelmed.

The Shanghai ‌Composite index was up 0.2% at 3,837.01 in early trade. China's blue-chip CSI300 index also inched 0.2% higher after hitting a one-year low in the previous session. Among measures announced ‌late on Tuesday, the People's Bank of China said it would cut the ‌interest rate on its one-year pledged supplementary lending (PSL) facility by 25 basis points to 1.5% from 1.75% to fund investment in water, power grid, computing, telecommunications and other infrastructure projects.

"The policy is ⁠in the ​right direction. But ⁠the government has refrained from strong stimulus, unveiling measures that are not adequate," said Charles Wang, chairman ⁠of Shenzhen Dragon Pacific Capital Management. "The economy is very weak, and a recovery in property ​and consumption is not in sight."

The government also said it will subsidise ⁠mortgages for eligible first-time homebuyers, offering to subsidise 1 percentage point of annual interest payments for up ⁠to ​five years. But Wen Xunneng, CEO of Zhu Liu Asset Management, said that expectations of the new policy had long been priced in, leading to sharp falls for ⁠property stocks on Wednesday. China's CSI 300 Real Estate Index was down nearly 7%.

In ⁠Hong Kong, ⁠Chinese H-share index Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 0.6%, and the city's benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 0.5%.