Asian shares down as Beijing tightens property mortgage rules

Asian shares dropped on Monday in late morning trade after China tightened mortgage rules to cool the property market.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.3% to 134 as of 11:39 a.m. in Tokyo. China’s Shanghai Composite Index plunged 2.2% after Beijing called for higher down payments and interest rates for second-home mortgages in cities with “excessively fast” price gains.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 1%. South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.3% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 1.2%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.6% paring a gain of as much as 1.4%.

Losses in shares were limited as robust US economic figures overshadowed worries about automatic spending cuts hurting the US economy.

In corporate news, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s biggest lender by market value slid 1.8% in Hong Kong.

Sands China Ltd., a Macau casino operator, decreased 2.3% as its parent Las Vegas Sands Corp. said it may have violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Mitsubishi Estate Co., Japan’s No. 1 developer by market value, rose 5.1% after Bank of Japan nominee Haruhiko Kuroda said he will do whatever it takes to end deflation.