Hong Kong's retail sales likely stayed soft in January: Standard Chartered

Quotes from Standard Chartered:

-Hong Kong will announce January retail sales data on 3 March. We expect sales to have fallen 2.0% y/y in volume terms and 4.5% by value. Both measures likely deteriorated further from December's disappointing levels, partly reflecting the delayed impact of mass protests in late 2014 on tourist spending and sentiment.

-Our Q1-2015 Hong Kong SME Business Leading Index, announced in mid-January,forewarned of weak business sentiment among retailers.

-That said, we think local households' spending remains well supported by the tight labour market and still strong wage expectations. We expect private consumption expenditure to remain a modest but positive contributor to headline GDP growth throughout 2015.