Asian markets struggle, China property help in focus

HONG KONG, China — Most Asian markets fell Friday following a broadly healthy week, with traders hoping for fresh Chinese moves to help the country's troubled property sector after officials called on banks to provide support.

Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving break, meaning investors were given few catalysts to drive buying, while oil was in focus after OPEC's decision to delay a key meeting sent prices sliding.

Equities have rallied in recent weeks on optimism the Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates again in this cycle as inflation heads south and the economy shows signs of easing without causing recession worries.

And while minutes from the bank's most recent policy meeting echoed warnings from decision-makers that borrowing costs will likely stay elevated for some time, there is hope that they will cut in 2024.

However, with traders taking a breather, many markets dipped in Asia on Friday.

Hong Kong led the losses, having risen over the week, while Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore and Manila were also down.

Tokyo jumped as dealers there played catch-up with an advance in Asia on Thursday. Sydney, Taipei, Jakarta and Wellington edged higher.

Investors are keeping tabs on China after authorities called on banks to provide help to the beleaguered property sector, which makes up a huge part of the world's number two economy.

The rubber-stamp parliament on Wednesday released a report calling for lenders to do more for the industry, with the head of the People's Bank of China saying they should step up help to enact the "guaranteed delivery of buildings". 

Bloomberg later reported that they were also weighing a plan that would allow banks to offer developers unsecured loans for the first time.

That came after a report saying a draft list of firms eligible for bank support had been drawn up.

The moves suggest the government is lasering in on a debt crisis that threatens to take down some of the country's biggest property firms, including Evergrande and Country Garden, and hammer the economy.

"The property developer debt issue will be solved sooner or later," Jian Shi Cortesi, of GAM Investment Management, said.

"If this measure (on unsecured loans) is