Tuesday March 15 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Australia's Banks Face Rising Bad-Debt Charges as Mining Fades - (www.bloomberg.com)  Already faced with higher capital requirements and a housing market past its peak, Australian banks have a new headache to contend with: corporate loans. Bad-debt provisions at the lenders are set to rise to their highest in eight years by 2018, as the chances of defaults in the mining, agricultural and dairy sectors increase, according to a survey by Bloomberg. Investors are already jittery after profits grew at the slowest pace in six years at three of the nation’s four-largest lenders in the latest reporting period. With the commodities rout depressing the mining sector and the jobless rate climbing, there may be little room for improvement.

Iron Ore Jumps Most on Record as Market Goes 'Berserk'  - (www.bloomberg.com)  Iron ore soared the most ever after Chinese policy makers signaled their willingness to buttress economic growth, boosting the outlook for steel consumption in the top user and igniting speculation that some investors who’d bet against the market had been caught out. Ore with 62 percent content delivered to Qingdao jumped 19 percent to $63.74 a dry metric ton, Metal Bulletin Ltd. data show. That’s the biggest gain in daily data going back to 2009 and the highest price since June. The surge was preceded in Asia by a rally in futures, with the most-active contract on Singapore Exchange Ltd. climbing 21 percent to $60 and prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rising by the daily limit.

Turkey takes over popular newspaper critical of government - (www.irishtimes.com)  Two days after Turkey’s top-selling newspaper was taken over by the state, it dropped its criticisms of the government and published flattering stories on Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan. The episode is the latest twist in a long-running conflict between Mr Erdogan and US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. Police raided the offices of the Zaman newspaper, which is affiliated with Mr Gülen, late on Friday after a court approved a request by a prosecutor to appoint a state administrator to the daily. The prosecutor is investigating whether funds have been diverted to Mr Gülen.

China's four biggest cities working on steps to cool housing market: minister - (www.reuters.com) China's four biggest cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, are working on steps to cool their property markets in response to recent strong housing sales and prices, state media reported on Saturday, citing the country's housing minister Chen Zhenggao. Local governments in Tier 1 cities will strictly enforce housing purchase restrictions and increase land supply as part of stabilization measures, Chen was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying. China's housing market bottomed out in the second half of 2015 after cooling for more than a year, but a strong rebound in prices in the biggest cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, have sparked concerns that some markets may be overheating, raising fears of a property bubble.

ChemChina $50 Billion Loans Flag New Chapter in China Debt Binge - (www.bloomberg.com)  Just as Moody’s Investors Service warns of the strain on China’s finances of debt among state-owned enterprises, the companies are loading up on record overseas loans to buy assets around the world. China National Chemical Corp., or ChemChina, got $50 billion in such financing for its$43 billion purchase of Swiss pesticides producer Syngenta AG, including $35 billion that’s being or will be syndicated offshore, people familiar with the matter have said. That brings loans syndicated offshore for Chinese firms undertaking acquisitions, including those in the pipeline, to at least $36.3 billion this year, compared with the record $23.3 billion completed in 2015.

OTHER STORIES:

China Drops Trade Target as Global Growth Uncertainty Increases - (www.bloomberg.com)
China’s Lowered Growth Target: What the World Can Expect - (online.wsj.com)
In New Economic Plan, China Bets That Hard Choices Can Be Avoided - (www.nytimes.com)

Zaman newspaper: Defiant last edition as Turkey police raid - (www.bbc.com)
Turkish police fire tear gas at newspaper, EU officials lament press record - (www.reuters.com)
Tension mounts in South China Sea - (www.dailymail.co.uk)