Property Remains China's Top Economic Risk - Nomura

        0426 GMT [Dow Jones] China's property sector remains the top economic risk for the world's second-biggest economy, says Zhiwei Zhang, research analyst at Nomura. Of 100 cities surveyed by China Index Academy in April, 45 cities experienced month-on-month property price declines, up from 37 cities in March. "These weakening prices reinforce our view that the property sector passed a turning point in the March quarter and will weaken through the rest of 2014," Zhang says. "As leading indicators, such as sales and new starts, dropped significantly in Q1, we see risks of a sharp correction in this sector taking place in 2014." Nomura expects China's weak property sector to drag on investment, slowing 2Q GDP growth to 7.1% year on year versus 7.4% in 1Q. The investment house maintains China will need to ease monetary policy by cutting its reserve requirement by 50 basis points in 2Q, and says the chance of an interest rate cut in the second half is rising. China's share market remains closed for public holidays Friday. (david.rogers@wsj.com; Twitter: @DRWSJ)
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        May 02, 2014 00:26 ET (04:26 GMT)