If confidence continues to slump, the HKMA is likely to take further steps to ease liquidity conditions.

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Add to that anxiety about weakened growth in China and the slump in consumer confidence, and you have a skittish market.

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It is weighed down by an array of concerns: the collapse of property prices, the tech slump, low consumer confidence and the lack of a decisive U.S. recovery to spur Asia's exports.

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America's economy is still limping along, though the summer slump in share prices and consumer confidence suggest future spending will weaken further.

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But despite a succession of government stimulus packages and near-zero interest rates, the slump in consumer spending - and consumer confidence - shows little sign of going away.

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The drop in confidence was due to a decline in production and a slump in new orders.

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And the German trend doesn't look encouraging, which - with Germany as the economic motor of the eurozone - augurs ill, particularly since this performance pre-dates the share-market slump of the past fortnight that will have dented the confidence of consumers and businesses.

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The March consumer confidence reading, meanwhile, checked in at a four-month low, while the housing market continues to slump.

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