Stocks fall after property curbs introduced to cool market

Mainland stocks fell as property developers slumped after some of the country's biggest cities introduced real-estate curbs, overshadowing a rebound for industrial companies' profits.

The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.7 percent, erasing a gain of as much as 1 percent. Poly Real Estate Group Co and Gemdale Corp led declines for developers. Shenzhen joined Shanghai in introducing measures late last week to tame soaring real-estate prices, including increasing down payment requirements. Industrial profits broke a seven-month losing run to climb 4.8 percent in the January-February period.

Property prices in the largest cities have begun to diverge severely from values in less-populated areas, spurring People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan to warn lenders this month about increased credit risk from this trend. Shenzhen will also limit local residents to purchases of two homes, while Shanghai will tighten approval criteria for nonlocal homebuyers and ban unregulated lending.