Morning Bites (part 1)

💍Hong Kong jewellery and watch sales dropped 18% YoY in January, vs. the -14% YoY seen in December, per government data. According to Rapaport, the drop is due to the high base effect, as retail trade benefiting from the revival of tourism last year. Meanwhile, the change in the timing of the Lunar New Year (January 29 this year, vs. February 10 last year) also weighed on consumer activity

Despite strong sales in the key US downstream market (~53% of the global gem-set jewellery trade), the diamond market recovery might take longer than we had anticipated. In our view, the 2024 winter holidays sales did not bring much positivity, while midstream inventories remain elevated in early-2025, according to market participants

#diamonds
https://metals-wire.com/sector/Diamonds