Hong kong : The trade war between the United States and China is beginning to weigh on business sentiment among small to medium-sized employers, with overall confidence for the fourth quarter at its lowest level since the beginning of last year, according to a new survey.
Sentiment for the final three months of the year dropped 6.7 points to 43.0 on a quarter-on-quarter basis, in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong SME Leading Business Index, with the largest drop in confidence in the import, export and wholesale area. Confidence had not dipped to that low of a level since the first quarter of 2017 when it hit 41.9, according to the index.
Nearly half of the businesses surveyed said they believed the trade tensions will last for more than one year, the Hong Kong Productivity Council and Standard Chartered said at a press conference on Thursday.
