MOSCOW, October 3 (RIA Novosti), Ekaterina Blinova - Hong Kong stocks closed up 0.6 percent on Friday despite ongoing protests, which were launched by the Occupy Central student pro-democracy movement.
"As trading resumed, the Hang Seng lost 1.2% to hit its lowest level since May. But the index later recovered, helped by rising shares in property firms, closing up 0.6% at 23,064.56," the BBC reports.
Stock prices began to improve after Leung Chun-ying announced that he would hold talks with the protesters. However, retail and tourism sector equities have decreased, experts note. China's tourism board has stopped approving visas for mainland groups to visit Hong Kong due to the ongoing unrest. It is worth mentioning that the Chinese make up two-thirds of the overall number of tourists who visit Hong Kong.
"The cap on the inbound tourists adds to the woes of retailers, who have been forced to close some of their doors in key commercial areas," Ryan Huang of IG Markets said, as quoted by the BBC.
ANZ bank has estimated that the protests would cost Hong Kong's retailers more than 2 billion Hong Kong dollars (more than $280 million).
"Sales of luxury goods, cosmetic products, and consumer durables are definitely hard hit," Raymond Yeung, a senior economist at ANZ stated, as cited by the BBC.
"However, the top line of convenience stores and supermarkets [will] likely hold up. The launch of a new smartphone also offers some additional support in October. We cannot label domestic consumption as having collapsed," he added.
Meanwhile news of government measures aimed at helping domestic buyers in China "boosted shares in property firms, which helped to push the Hang Seng higher," the media source notes.
Analysts claim that the economic impact of the protest movement in Hong Kong will be "limited," the Associated Press writes.
China's markets have closed for a week-long national holiday period, and will start trading on October 8.
