Hong Kong's growth cools

HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters): Hong Kong's economic growth slowed further in the third quarter and is expected to face additional headwinds amid trade tensions between Beijing and Washington and higher interest rates, posing broader risks to growth in the Asian financial hub next year.

The city's economy grew 2.9 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, down from 3.5 per cent growth rate in the April-June quarter.

That marks the second consecutive slowdown from 4.6 per cent growth in the first quarter, which was the city's strongest performance in nearly seven years.

The economy is expected to come under further pressure from prolonged China-US trade tensions and higher interest rates, which have seen property prices cool after a bullish stampede lasting more than two years.

"The impacts on Hong Kong's external trade have begun to surface, and are likely to become more apparent in the near term," the government said in a statement.

The third-quarter pace was in line with an average forecast from five economists of 2.9 per cent growth.

The government revised its forecast for full-year 2018 growth to 3.2 per cent from 3-4 per cent.

Several banks have also trimmed their growth forecasts for this year amid concerns over the impact of the trade war.

Standard Chartered has lowered its 2019 GDP growth forecast to three per cent from 3.4 per cent.

The economy expanded 0.1 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, compared with 0.2 per cent growth in the second quarter.

The financial hub's trade-reliant economy is vulnerable to simmering trade tensions between the United States and China, Hong Kong's largest trade partner.