Despite the scant possibility of another interest rise in the United States and the chief executive's policy speech on Wednesday, the Hong Kong market remained on the upside throughout the week. The Hang Seng Index finished at about 12,800 points on Monday ahead of the US Federal Reserve's second-last meeting for the year, boosted by China Telecom. The company announced after the market had closed that it would pay $49.71 billion for three mobile telephone networks in the mainland. Bargain hunters also came in to play after recent declines in some leading counters. It seemed the frantic run for technology-related plays was cooling off, although analysts believe investors - particularly local punters - are just taking a breather. A report that the Securities and Futures Commission was investigating trading in some of the speculative plays last month also could have spurred profit-taking, some market watchers said. The Fed decided against raising rates, but reiterated its monetary tightening bias, leading many to the belief that chairman Alan Greenspan will raise rates at the November meeting. Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa delivered a policy speech on Wednesday - an address expected by many in the market place to be a positive for property stocks. The index remained positive, however, as some rate-sensitive blue chips made solid gains after the Fed decision to leave rates alone. Later in the week, second-tier high-tech plays came back to the fore, with Essential Enterprises rising 10.21 per cent to $2.05 and Chinney Alliance up 20.28 per cent to 41.5 cents on Thursday. Analysts said last week's gains in the benchmark index was a positive, but analysts are forecasting range-bound trade ahead of the Fed's November meeting. However improving Asian economies are giving rise to increasing confidence in the region's blue chips, particularly telecommunications companies with an Internet strategy. October 3: 12,733.24 October 10: 13,112.42 Per cent change: + 2.98