Hong Kong

COVID-19 hits luxury transactions harder than the mass market.

A portion of the income has been donated to a charity organisation.

Fiscal deficit of 9.5% of GDP to be expected this year due to additional spendings.

Potential buyers will retreat on house buying.

General market declined by 4.1% whilst commercial volumes fell.

Hong Kong IPOs remained resilient in Q1 2020.

Prices could fall by another 10-20% by end-2020.

Research shows working from home was part of the employee experience before the pandemic hit. Businesses worldwide are urging, and in some cases mandating, employees to work from home. Technology has empowered a global workforce that stays connected in a work-from-anywhere world.  In the last 15 years, working from home has increased 159% on an upward trend.

The app also recently launched “PickUp” feature for users. Deliveroo has seen over 1,500 new restaurants join the platform since January, according to a press release. A 200% jump in restaurant sign ups was also seen in the past eight weeks, compared to the eight week period prior to this. In addition, Deliveroo also recently launched the “PickUp” feature enabling customers to order food ahead and pick up meals from restaurants saving customers’ time and money, and responds to the calls for more social distancing. The service also benefits restaurants by opening additional revenue streams, enabling restaurants to reach a new wave of customers. The PickUp feature allows people to order for collection from restaurants that may not provide delivery services, or order products that may not be suitable for delivery.  

Hong Kong recorded a net primary income inflow of $148.2b.

The sector took a blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The HKD rose over 0.5% MoM in March.

This marks the third consecutive month of decline.

Around 75% of investors have retained appetite towards real estate.

But SMEs could suffer from the new measures to control the COVID-19 outbreak. Hong Kong's government will introduce a second round of financial assistance for businesses hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung. The government already released a first aid package last month to support affected businesses and individuals. The Epidemic Prevention Fund will be used to protect workers and stabilise the challenges the economy faces. The government also imposed strict measures to curb the effect of the outbreak, including a 14-day ban on foreign non-residents, restricting public gatherings, and closing public spaces. All international arrivals will be subjected to a 14-day self-quarantine. However, Financial Secretary Paul Chan added that these measures could worsen the condition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and could increase the risk of layoffs and closures. Chan said he expects a massive drop in retail sales figures, and it may not be possible for the city's economy to rebound as quickly as it did following the SARS epidemic in 2003.  

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine tops the list with a 10.7% weighting.