Trade wars and local protests being cited from the huge slump in the IHS Markit Hong Kong Purchasing Manager's Index for July 2019.

Comments via Markit:

  • rate of decline in both new orders and business activity was the steepest for over a decade
  • ongoing US-China trade war and an escalation in largescale political protests in Hong Kong
  • firms became increasingly pessimistic
  • business expectations of output in the year ahead falling to the lowest for three-and-a-half years