Retail sales across all categories were down 8.9% in value terms and 9.6% in volume terms during the month of June 2016 as compared to a year earlier, according to figures released by the Census & Statistics Department, HKSAR. This is the 16th consecutive month of decline, the department said, with the rate of decline being more or less flat compared to the 8.3% and 8.8% drop in sales by value and volume respectively that was registered in May.

For the first half of 2016, retail sales across all categories were down 10.5% and 10.1% in value and volume terms respectively, the report added.

The "Jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts" segment was down 18.7% in value & 18.2% in volume, the category with the third steepest fall, behind "Consumer durable goods" and "Electrical goods and photographic equipment" which interestingly registered a higher drop (-25.7% in value & -23.3% in volume).

A hint of ggood news came from sales of "Supermarkets and supermarket sections of department stores" which registed the highest growth in June 2016 (+1.6% in value & -0.5% in volume), though this was slower than the rate of increase in the preceding month (+3.9% in value in May 2016).

Retailer sentiment continues to be negative; most companies said they anticipated a further decline in retail sales over the second half, though they expected the rate of decline to slow down given the lower base recorded in the second half of 2015.