Asian carmakers go for a ride, Buffett's BYD slips, Chinese property stocks get the jitters

In Asia Thursday, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% to close at 3,254. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.4% to 9,863 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.2% to end the day at 21,700.

In China, news that the country's booming car industry sold more than 12 million vehicles so far this year was met by changes to taxes paid on new cars. The new policy will extend the tax breaks into next year, reports China Daily, but raise the rate from this year's 5% to 7.5%. Before the economic crisis prompted the government to enact sweeping stimulus measures, China had been charging a 10% tax on cars. Car subsidies will not apply to cars with an engine size of over 2 liters, but most of the cars sold in China are economical, compact cars.