THE Hong Kong market is likely to remain hostage to releases of US economic data this week with most analysts seeing little immediate escape from the current unease.
Last Friday's Wall Street rally provided some optimism and analysts said it could provide the necessary impetus to lift the Hang Seng Index out of the doldrums around the 9,000 level. But they added that interest-rate fears were likely to continue to weigh heavily on investors' minds.
The slower-than-expected job-creation figures released on Friday cheered US investors as they lessened the likelihood of an immediate interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve, but analysts expect the respite to be temporary.
'There is simply a lack of buying interest out there - we may get a short-term rally on Monday morning off the back of Friday's improvement on Wall Street but it will not be long lived,' said Andrew Hall, research director at Morgan Grenfell Asia Securities.
Market attention would quickly shift back to the Fed's next interest-rate move and with no obvious good news on the horizon Mr Hall said he saw little scope for prices breaking above their current trading range.
Last week, Henderson Land and Sun Hung Kai Properties released interim results that saw net profit rise 51 and 32 per cent respectively which was broadly in line with market expectations.
