Asia Pacific

Pressure is building on Beijing to intervene more forcefully to restore confidence in its reeling property market, the Wall Street Journal reported. In the latest sign of stress for the market, people with knowledge of Beijing’s decision-making said authorities are investigating whether Hui Ka Yan, the billionaire founder of heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande Group, attempted to transfer assets offshore while the company was struggling to complete unfinished projects.

Pressure is building on Beijing to intervene more forcefully to restore confidence in its reeling property market, the Wall Street Journal reported. In the latest sign of stress for the market, people with knowledge of Beijing’s decision-making said authorities are investigating whether Hui Ka Yan, the billionaire founder of heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande Group, attempted to transfer assets offshore while the company was struggling to complete unfinished projects.

Japan's factory activity fell at the fastest pace in seven months in September, a survey showed on Monday, as worsening global economic conditions continued to weaken demand, Reuters reported. The final au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 48.5 in September from 49.6 in August and roughly in line with the flash reading of 48.6. The index has remained below the 50.0 point threshold that separates growth from contraction for four straight months.

Australian home prices stayed strong in September, driven by soaring demand and outweighing the impact of the central bank’s aggressive policy tightening campaign, Bloomberg News reported. Sydney prices, the national bellwether, advanced 1%, down slightly from the previous month, property consultancy CoreLogic Inc. said in a report Monday. Adelaide led September’s gains — climbing 1.7%. In the more expensive cities — Sydney and Melbourne — the broad middle of the market is recording the highest growth rate after previously being led by the upper quartile, CoreLogic said.

The Indonesian rupiah just had the worst quarter in more than a year, and analysts see more losses ahead, Bloomberg News reported. The currency broke the closely watched 15,400 level last week, and there is a possibility it may test this year’s low of 15,638, according to Malayan Banking Berhad. Higher crude prices threaten to worsen the net oil-importing nation’s finances, and that along with higher US yields and a stronger dollar are likely to weigh down the rupiah.

Germany has welcomed a show of support from China for the G20 debt restructuring framework for poorer countries in a joint statement after their financial dialogue in Frankfurt over the weekend, Reuters reported. "We welcome the fact that the Chinese side is also committed to this in our Joint Statement, because solutions are inconceivable without China as such an important player in world politics," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Sunday, after his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Just a few weeks ago, China Evergrande, the world’s most debt-saddled real estate developer, was writing its next chapter and working to resolve financial disputes with its creditors. Then a stream of bad news came and the pages were torn up, the New York Times reported. Staff at the company’s wealth management arm have been detained by the authorities. Two former top executives are reportedly being held, and its billionaire chairman is under police surveillance.

Ebix Inc. Chief Executive Officer Robin Raina received a $1.8 million bonus last week, even as a Sept. 30 deadline looms for the company to repay a loan of more than $600 million to a syndicate of US banks without having the cash on hand, Bloomberg News reported. Ebix, based in Johns Creek, Ga., disclosed the bonus in a regulatory filing Monday. It said that $1.2 million of the bonus was paid on Sept. 19, the day the board awarded it to Raina. The remainder will be paid in October, according to the filing.

China’s gigantic real estate bubble has popped, but despite the market’s prolonged downturn, prices still haven’t fallen much, the Wall Street Journal reported. In part, that is because of price controls which many Chinese cities imposed on housing over the past two years to keep values stable. Now China is starting to loosen the rules—with unpredictable consequences. Under the rules, which were applied in dozens of cities, local governments typically blocked developers of new homes from offering discounts of 10% to 15% or more on unsold properties.