Hong Kong shares are expected to start the Year of the Monkey on a firm note, with investors in Hutchison Whampoa Ltd waiting to see if consumers in its home market welcome its third generation mobile phones.
Ports-to-telecoms conglomerate Hutchison, controlled by Asia's richest businessman Li Ka-shing, will grab the limelight on Tuesday when it launches its third-generation service in Hong Kong just in time to cash in on the Chinese New Year festive shopping season.
Some analysts expect Hutchison to enjoy greater success in technology-savvy Hong Kong compared with Europe, where the controversial service has got off to a slow start, burdened by a shortage of handsets and technical delays.
Hutchison shares rose 6.6 percent last week to HK$68.25 in anticipation of a successful launch, but the shares lagged last year's 35 percent rally on the blue-chip Hang Seng Index, rising 17 percent.
Investors in SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings Ltd and Sunday Communications Ltd will be also monitoring the take-up of Hutchison's 3G phones. The two smaller telecom carriers have announced plans to launch their own 3G services in the second half of this year.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index climbed 4.43 percent to 13,750.58 points to end last week at a fresh two-and-a-half year high. The market was closed on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday for the Chinese New Year holiday.
Property stocks such as Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd will also be in focus, with apartment sales due for a seasonal uptick after the payment of new year bonuses.
The Hang Seng has risen nine percent so far in 2004 and market watchers see little downside in the first trading sessions of the Year of the Monkey.
Increasing confidence in a hard-won economic recovery and closer trade ties with booming neighbour China are expected to underpin gains, with Merrill Lynch forecasting the benchmark to touch 16,000 points later this year.