HK August retail sales up 3.4% to HK$40bn

    Hong Kong's value of total retail sales in August, provisionally estimated at HK$40 billion, rose 3.4% over a year earlier, data from the Census and Statistics Department showed.
  The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in July dropped 3.2% over the same period a year earlier. For the first eight months of 2014, total retail sales fell 1% in value over the same period a year earlier. 
  After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales in August rose 2.8% over a year earlier. The revised estimate of the volume of total retail sales in July declined 4.5% over the same period a year earlier. For the first eight months of 2014, total retail sales shrank 1% in volume over the same period a year earlier.
  A Government spokesman noted that retail sales showed a modest year-on-year rebound in August, as the decline in sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts narrowed, amid fading base effects, while the sales of many other goods that are more closely related to local consumption increased moderately. Also, the difference in timing of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which fell in early September this year but in mid-September last year, brought forward some related purchases, adding to the retail sales growth in August.
  The spokesman added that looking ahead, the performance of retail sales will hopefully turn better in the near term as the high base effects continue to recede. However, in view of the downside risks associated with the changing pattern in tourist spending and uncertainties in the external environment, the Government will stay alert and monitor the retail business situation.