China April new bank loans tumble to 718.8 bln yuan, far below forecasts

BEIJING, May 11 (Reuters) - Chinese banks extended 718.8 billion yuan ($103.99 billion) in yuan loans in April, tumbling from March and sharply missing analysts' estimates.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast yuan loans would drop to 1.4 trillion yuan last month, versus 3.89 trillion yuan in March.

Broad M2 money supply grew 12.4% in April from a year earlier, central bank data showed on Thursday, falling short of the Reuters poll estimate of 12.5%. M2 rose 12.7% in March.

Outstanding yuan loans grew 11.8% in April from a year earlier compared with 11.8% growth the previous month. Analysts had predicted 12% growth.

($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Judy Hua and Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)

((qiaoyi.li@thomsonreuters.com;))