Hong Kong shares may trade firmer ahead of a raft of earnings results due out next week and recovering some of the losses suffered on news of a plot to bomb US-bound planes, dealers said Friday.
They said property stocks will continue to be in focus after the US Federal Reserve's decision to halt its interest rate hike cycle earlier this week.
Sales of apartments over the weekend could set the direction for the rate-sensitive stocks next week, they added.
"Investors would watch and see how the sales go and take a hint from that," said Jackson Wong, investment manager at Tanrich Securities.
He said investors will also closely follow US economic data due out next week, including producer price index and consumer price index for July, for further clues about interest rate movement.
Dealers said news that the British police have foiled an alleged terror plot to blow up US-bound planes Thursday have been largely digested and the market will return to normal in the coming week unless actual attacks occur.
"Unless we will see another 911, otherwise such news would only have short-term effect on the market," Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial Group.
China Mobile and China Southern Airlines will release their interim results next week.
For the week to August 11, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 362.15 points or 2.10 percent at 17,249.95.
Pang expects the index to trade as high as 17,500 points and at a support level of 17,000 points.
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