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RAPAPORT... Hong Kong's retail sales of jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable luxury gifts plunged 24.6 percent year on year to $1.03 billion (HKD 7.944 billion) in May, according to provisional figures from Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department. However, sales of jewelry, watches and valuable gifts just at department stores actually improved 20.5 percent in May to $37 million (HKD 288 million). By volume, sales of goods for the jewelry and watches category slipped 22.7 percent. Hong Kong recorded total retail sales in May of $5 billion (HKD 39 billion), a decrease of 4.1 percent compared with one year earlier. Additionally, Hong Kong revised the estimate of retail sales for April lower, to a decline of 9.9 percent, while calendar year to data retail sales were down 0.2 percent. The government concluded that weak demand for jewelry and the luxury goods category negatively impacted total retail sales in May, conceivably indicating lower tourist spending. However, sales of many other goods that are more closely related to local consumption continued to grow from a year earlier, reflecting the still positive local consumer sentiment amid full employment, according to its statement.
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