The FINANCIAL — Hong Kong’s retail sales by value fell by a faster-than-expected 2.8% in July from a year earlier, dragged by a further slow down in inbound tourism and partly by the impact of the stock market’s correction on consumer sentiment, the Census and Statistics Department said on August 31, according to Nasdaq.
The decline widened from June’s 0.4% fall, and was worse than the median 1.9% decline forecast from a survey of three economists by The Wall Street Journal.
Hong Kong’s retail sales by volume rose 1.9% in July from a year earlier, decelerating from June’s 4.3% increase, and below the survey’s median forecast for a 2.8% rise.
“The near-term performance of retail sales will continue to hinge on inbound tourism growth and on whether there would be any negative spillover from the increased stock market volatility of late,” a government spokesman said in the statement.
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