Hong Kong retail stocks slump on coronavirus fears as trading resumes
29/01/2020 02:24
** Consumer stocks in Hong Kong, including apparel
retailers, jewellers and cosmetics manufacturers, tumble on
worries about the spread of a new coronavirus as trading resumes
after two-day Lunar New Year holiday
** Luxury fashion brand Prada SpA 1913.HK drops as much as
5.9% in early trading, while cosmetics brand L’Occitane
International 0973.HK tumbles 10% to a three-month low
** Local retailer Sa Sa International 0178.HK slides 10.9%
to the lowest since August 2009
** Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group 1929.HK slides 7.5%
** Hong Kong announced on Tuesday a suspension of high-speed
rail and ferry links with mainland China urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29X1M3
** ING says in a report the impact of the coronavirus on the
Hong Kong retail sector Kong should be moderate, as it has
already been severely impacted by violent protests
** ING expects HK's retail sales to plummet 30% yoy in the
coming months, compared with a drop of 23.6% in November
** In mainland China, the death toll from a new coronavirus
rose sharply to 132 on Wednesday with nearly 1,500 new cases
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29X3UT
** Hang Seng Index .HSI is down over 2%, dragging Asian
shares MKTS/GLOB
((Reuters Messaging: clare.jim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))