Check out how Hong Kong's retail subsectors performed in February

Overall growth rocketed 22.7%.

According to Barclays, Hong Kong’s February retail sales growth spiked to +22.7% y/y by value (and +21.9% y/y by volume), compared to the +10.5% y/y recorded in January by value.

This was partially due to the Chinese New Year falling in February this year vs January in 2012. Even if we look at January and February together, the two months combined saw retail sales grow +15.8% y/y in value, which is a solid pick-up compared to the +9% y/y seen in November and December 2012.

Here's more from Barclays:

Jewellery and watches saw strong pick-up in growth: Jan/Feb combined y/y sales growth for the jewellery and watches segment saw the strongest pick-up. Jan/Feb retail sales were +20.5% y/y.

The growth momentum further accelerated compared to the low teens y/y growth we saw in Nov/Dec. We believe this is positive news for jewellery retail stocks such as Chow Tai Fook (1929.HK, Overweight).

Some pick-up in other discretionary segments: Jan/Feb growth for the cosmetics segment was +13.5% y/y, better than the +7.4% y/y growth seen in Nov/Dec. Jan/Feb y/y sales growth for the department store category was at +13.5% y/y, slightly better than the +11% y/y we saw in Nov/Dec 2012.

Footwear and accessories saw pick up to +14% y/y in Jan/Feb compared to +8% in Nov/Dec. Wearing apparel also saw minor pick-up to +8.3% y/y growth in Jan/Feb, compared to the +6.7% y/y seen in Nov/Dec.