HK Oct retail sales dip as protests hit core shopping areas

Hong Kong

HONG KONG reported a slowdown in October retail sales on Monday, providing the first broad look at the impact of the pro-democracy protests on core shopping areas in the Chinese-ruled city, where demonstrators have blocked key roads and scared off tourists.

Protests began choking parts of the Asian financial centre in late September, disrupting business in one of the world's key markets for luxury companies. The impact on luxury categories was clear. Sales of jewellery, watches, clocks and valuable gifts slid 11.6 per cent; purchases of clothing dropped 8.8 per cent. Electrical and photographic equipment sales jumped 23.6 per cent, thanks to strong demand for smartphones. This enabled retail sales to notch a 1.4 per cent gain in October to HK$38.3 billion (S$6.4 billion), but it still represented a slowdown from the 4.8 per cent growth in September.