ANZ-Roy Morgan HK consumer confidence edges down in November

    ANZ-Roy Morgan Hong Kong Consumer Confidence edged down to 133.3 (down 3.0pts) in November. Confidence components of the survey dropped across the board this month.
  In terms of personal finances now 37.5% (down 2.2ppts) of respondents said their families are "better off" financially than this time last year, compared with 10.5% (up 0.4ppt) that said their families are "worse off" financially.
  Currently, 42.8% (down 2.4ppts) of respondents expected their families will be "better off" financially this time next year, compared with 9.7% (up 0.7ppt) that expected their families to be "worse off" financially.
  Thinking of economic conditions in Hong Kong going forward, more than half of respondents, 54.6% (down 2.1ppts), expected Hong Kong will have "good times" economically over the next 12 months, compared with 13.1% (up 0.2ppt) that expected "bad times".
  Now 54.1% (down 2.7ppts) of respondents expected Hong Kong will have "good times" economically during the next five years and 13.8% (down 0.1ppt) expected "bad times".
  In November, 32.3% (down 2.9ppts) of respondents said now is a "good time to buy" major household items in Hong Kong and only 7.5% (up 1.5ppts) said now is a "bad time to buy" major household items.
  Inflation expectations eased further to 3.1% (down 0.4ppt) in November.
  "The decline of consumer confidence is expected, given the poor performance of the stock market. People tend to be increasingly pessimistic about their own financial condition as well as the economic outlook." said Raymond Yeung, ANZ's senior economist.
  "The US Fed is about to increase interest rate in December, indicating a shift of monetary policy regime. Such a change will have a significant implication on global asset prices including Hong Kong's property prices. Any negative wealth effect may affect domestic consumer confidence subsequently. This is a risk the policymakers need to be aware of." he added.