Hong Kong's May retail sales grew a sluggish 12.8%

Versus April's impressive 20.7%.

According to Barclays, Hong Kong retail sales were +12.8% y/y in May by value (+12.2% by volume). This is much slower than the +20.7% y/y growth in value in April which was elevated by the spike in gold/jewellery sales.

Most discretionary segments saw a pick-up in growth in May, including the clothing and footwear segments, department store segment and cosmetics/medicines segment. Jewellery/watch sales saw normalisation into May.

Here's more from Barclays:

Jewellery and watches growth normalised but still strong at +34.5% y/y: This slowed from the +68.5% y/y growth seen in April caused by the rush to buy gold and other jewellery purchases, due to lower gold prices.

Cosmetics and medicines growth accelerated in May: Growth of cosmetics and medicines was +19.1% y/y in May, this was a further pick-up from April's +13.2% y/y growth. This is consistent with strong trends as seen in Sa Sa’s (178.HK; OW) 1Q FY13 so far (April-June) with +28% y/y sales growth and +18% same-store sales (SSS) growth in its Hong Kong/Macau segment.

Clothing and footwear, department stores saw a pick-up: The clothing and footwear segment was +11.4% y/y, a good acceleration from the +5% seen in April. Department stores also saw acceleration to +23.7% y/y growth in May, vs April's +21.9% y/y. We believe the onset of summer sales had further triggered purchases.

Durables dragged: Consumer durables saw a reversal to a decline of 9.5% y/y in May. Within the durables category, motor vehicles and parts were -23.2% y/y; electrical goods and photographic equipment were -9.9% y/y.