Hong Kong Protests Sink Sentiment at Smaller Businesses

(Bloomberg) --

Sentiment among Hong Kong’s small- and medium-sized businesses, especially retailers, has plummeted amid weeks of protests, violent clashes and transit disruptions. Indexes tracking business receipts in retail trade and across all sectors dropped to record lows in July, according to data from Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department dating back to 2011. Current levels are even worse than those seen during the Occupy movement in 2014 and an extended retail downturn in 2016 amid stock market carnage in China.

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