Hong Kong's retail market failed to improve in 4Q15

4Q usually a year's most upbeat period.

Retail sentiment failed to register any improvement in Q4 2015, usually the most upbeat quarter of the year.

According to a research note from CBRE, total retail sales slid 5.5% y-o-y in October and November combined, bringing the total decline over the first 11 months of 2015 to 3.1% y-o-y.

The USD-pegged HKD remained strong relative to foreign currencies such as the Japanese yen, Korean won and euro.

Here's more from CBRE:

This continued to encourage mainland Chinese tourists and locals to spend outside of Hong Kong. In addition, tourists continued to shift their spending habits from luxury to mid-range products.

Sales of tourist-oriented good such as watches and jewellery fell 19% y-o-y in October and November combined. Total retail sales of such good fell 15% in the first 11 months of 2015.