Hong Kong retail sales fall in July, stay below expectations

Retail sales in Hong Kong fell during the month of July, staying below what markets had earlier expected.

Hong Kong's retail sales by value fell 7.7 percent in July from a year earlier due to the drop in visitor spending amid an uncertain economic outlook, data released by the Census and Statistics Department showed Monday.

However, the decline was an improvement from the 8.9 percent fall in June, but was worse than our median 7.5 percent fall forecast from a poll of ten economists. The sales contraction also let up somewhat in volume terms, as a reading of -8.5 per cent for July marked a 1.1 percentage point improvement from the month prior.

"Looking ahead, the near-term outlook for retail sales will continue to depend on the performance of inbound tourism and on whether the various external uncertainties would affect local consumer sentiment," a government spokesman said in the statement.

Meanwhile, the Chinese territory expanded 1.7 percent y/y in the three months to June, against expectations of 0.9 percent, bolstering markets by the announcement of a launch window for a Shenzhen-Hong Kong market linkup.