Asia markets gain, investors cautious on China stimulus

Hong Kong closed the morning up 0.9 percent and Shanghai gained 0.1 percent but they were both below their earlier highs

Asian markets gained Thursday following a healthy run on Wall Street, with Chinese investors giving a cautious welcome to China's latest plan to boost its troubled property sector.

Hong Kong and Shanghai ended the morning session on a positive note after China's housing minister outlined a fresh batch of measures in the latest bid to convince traders the government was getting a handle on the real-estate crisis.

The world's number two economy has struggled to recover since lifting strict Covid controls at the end of 2022, due to a debt crisis in the property sector and sluggish consumer demand.

Authorities announced a series of measures in that time to little effect, but last month's raft of pledges triggered blockbuster rallies on the mainland and Hong Kong on hopes that even more were in the pipeline.

But news conferences last Tuesday and Saturday dampened the sentiments and led to a fresh bout of volatility in trading floors.

And analysts said the latest briefing from housing minister Ni Hong also fell short.

Ni said Thursday that officials would almost double the amount of credit available to complete unfinished housing projects to $562 billion and also help renovate a million homes.

The move, he said, would "be conducive to absorbing the existing stock of commercial housing".

Hong Kong closed the morning up 0.9 percent and Shanghai gained 0.1 percent but they were both below their earlier highs.

There were also gains in Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila, though Tokyo extended Wednesday's losses.