Lending to stockbrokers by the SAR's banking sector has had a 15.2 per cent increase for the first quarter following a 30.6 per cent decline in the previous quarter, according to Hong Kong Monetary Authority statistics.
The authority attributed the increase to buoyant stock market activity during the period.
Despite intensifying competition for residential mortgage business among banks, home loans grew only 0.7 per cent during the first quarter, while lending to electricity, gas and telecommunications industries registered a 2.4 per cent increase.
All the remaining loans for use in other sectors experienced shrinkage during the period.
Lending to the manufacturing sector eased 3.1 per cent while loans for trade financing slid 7.9 per cent.
In line with the slack performance in retail sales, loans for wholesale and retail trades dropped by 4.2 per cent in the first quarter, having shrunk by 4.9 per cent in the three months to December 31.
