Bloomberg Contract signings to purchase previously owned US homes unexpectedly fell for a second month in November, offering yet another sign that the housing market is struggling. The index of pending home sales decreased 0.7 percent, according to data by the National Association of Realtors in Washington. The gauge slumped 7.7 percent from a year earlier on an unadjusted basis, …

Bloomberg Senior People’s Bank of China (PBOC) officials pushed back against interpretations of its recent moves as signalling significantly looser policy, emphas- ising that monetary policy remains prudent — though it will be more targeted and flexible. “The stance on prudent monetary policy hasn’t changed,” Sun Guofeng, director of the monetary policy department, told reporters in Beijing. “But it’ll be …

Bloomberg China announced plans to rein in the expansion of lending by the nation’s regional banks to areas beyond their home bases, the latest step policy makers have taken to defend against financial risk in the world’s second-biggest economy. Those lenders, which include rural cooperatives, must have the proper licenses to provide financing beyond the region where they’re based, or …