HK - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Sep 14)

[kennynah]

Hong Kong's Residential New Loan Approvals Increase
10/27/2008 10:12 AM ET

(RTTNews) - Hong Kong's new loans approved rose 7.8% month-on-month to HK$14.5 billion in September, results of the residential mortgage survey conducted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority showed Monday.

According to the official report, the growth was mainly due to increases of HK$0.9 billion in approvals for primary market transactions and of HK$0.2 billion in approvals for refinancing loans.

Meanwhile, the approval for secondary market transactions remained little changed at HK$9.9 billion and the number of new applications increased 18.5%.

The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate increased to 83.1% from 82.8% in August. The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased 0.2% to HK$596.7 billion.

On a monthly basis, new mortgage loans drawn down declined 4.6% to HK$11.6 billion.

[iam802]

Saw this on AsiaOne.

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HK's Krispy Kreme goes bust

HONG KONG - THE Hong Kong franchisee of American chain Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is going into liquidation, as it becomes the latest company in the city to close amid the global financial crisis.

Of its seven stores in Hong Kong, five will be closed immediately.

.......

Wonder if the queue at Tokyo's Krispy Kreme is still as long?

[millionairemind]

October 28, 2008, 2.54 pm (Singapore time)

HK appoints Morgan Stanley Asia chief to crisis group

HONG KONG - Hong Kong has appointed Morgan Stanley Asia chairman Stephen Roach and Standard Chartered chairman Mervyn Davies to an economic task force to deal with the worsening global financial crisis.

'This will help us weather the storm and turn a crisis into an opportunity,' Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang told reporters on Tuesday.

David Burton, Asia Pacific's head of the International Monetary Fund, will attend the first meeting.

The task force, which will have 10 members, will make preliminary assessments of the impact of the financial crisis on the global and local economies and form a work plan for the coming months.

'The damage that the financial tsunami has inflicted on the global economy has yet to be fully revealed,' Mr Tsang said.

'We need to evaluate the situation, consider ways to respond, identify new opportunities and ultimately enhance our international competitiveness.' Other group members include Li & Fung chairman Victor Fung, HSBC's group general manager and global co-head of commercial banking Margaret Leung, partner of KPMG Ayesha Macpherson, and chairman of Johnson Electric Holdings Patrick Wang. -- REUTERS

[winston]

Ah.... this guys are still sleeping and have not met yet ??

[kennynah]

RTT ticker tape at 1053am 3rdNov08

HK PMI at 43.1 in Oct vs 46.7 in Sept...

[kennynah]

i seriously doubt this rally can be sustained for too long...

***********************

Hong Kong's Private Sector Activity Contracts in October, Survey Shows
11/2/2008 11:08 PM ET

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong private sector economy signaled an overall contraction in activity for the fourth consecutive month in October, a monthly survey from Markit Economics showed Monday.

The headline Markit Hong Kong Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 43.1 in October from 46.7 in September. The level of business activity declined at the sharpest rate since April 2003. Falls in new work and adverse demand conditions, reflecting fears of a prolonged global economic downturn were cited as the reason for the largest decline in business activity.

In October, volumes of new business decreased at the most marked rate since May 2003. Further, the survey revealed that overall input prices fell for the first time since August 2003, while average prices charged by firms were down for the first time in more than four years.

[millionairemind]

Nov 3, 2008
HK retail sales slow to 6.9%

HONG KONG - HONG KONG retail sales growth slowed to 6.9 per cent year-on-year in September as weak consumer spending linked to the world economic crisis began to bite, the government said on Monday.

Retail sales were worth 20.9 billion Hong Kong dollars (S$3.96 billion) in September, the Census and Statistics Department said. Year-on-year growth represented a drop from 10.4 per cent in August.

Sales rose by 14.1 per cent over the first nine months of 2008 compared with the same period a year earlier. Sales volume increased by 7.6 per cent over the same period.

The volume of sales of electrical goods and photographic equipment increased the most year-on-year, by 13.3 per cent. That was followed by sales of motor vehicles and parts, which was up 13.1 per cent.

Footwear other clothing accessories saw the biggest fall, of 8.3 per cent.

'The growth of retail sales moderated further in September, as consumer spending had weakened against the backdrop of the escalation of the global financial crisis and the ensuing deterioration in economic prospect,' a government spokesman said in a statement.

He warned asset price corrections, slowing economy and deterioration of labour market conditions were expected increasingly to affect consumer sentiment. -- AFP

[millionairemind]

November 6, 2008, 3.16 pm (Singapore time)

HK Monetary Authority extends loan period for banks

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's de facto central bank on Thursday said it would extend the maximum loan period for collateralised lending to local banks in anticipation tighter credit by the end of the year.


The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a statement that it will also charge interest below the interbank lending rates.

The two measures, which will take immediate effect until end of March next year, aimed to provide 'assurances to the market about the availability of liquidity in anticipation of banks' greater demand for funding towards the year end', the statement said.

Joseph Yam, chief executive of the authority, told reporters on Thursday morning that they hoped banks could help out industries by making it easier to borrow money.

He also said the HKMA bought HK$3.88 billion (US$500 million) of US dollars late on Wednesday, intervening in the market for the fourth time in recent weeks, to defend the local currency's peg to the greenback.

The latest intervention brought the aggregate balance in Hong Kong's banking system to HK$37.82 billion. -- AFP

[winston]

Maybe this is the reason why the HK$ is strong vs the US$ and that the HK govt has to intervene..

HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES

Deposit levels in the banking system are expected to surge. The increase is not from overseas investment but Hong Kong enterprises moving back cash as their development projects are halted.

[kennynah]

i am confused here...if the demand for the HKD is dropping...then logically HKD should weaken against others....??? i blur here...