Hong Kong's leading shares are expected to cling to the key 13,000-point level this week, with jitters over high oil prices and lacklustre overseas markets likely to hold back big gains.
Hong Kong property firm New World Development may draw selling after posting a full-year net loss of HK$976.2 million (US $125 million) in results issued after Friday's close.
"Market players will be keeping an eye on oil price and Wall Street movements," said Y.K. Chan, a strategist at Phillips Securities.
Stocks look set to be rangebound, shuttling between 13,000 points and the 13,200-point resistance level. Financial markets will be closed on Friday for the Chung Yeung, or grave-sweeping, festival.
Last Friday, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 0.18 percent, or 24.05 points, at 13,059.43, marking a 1.37 percent fall over the week. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.39 percent on Friday while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.45 percent.
US stocks advanced as a jump in September retail sales boosted investor confidence in the economy, but oil prices at a fresh record of $55 a barrel kept gains in check.
Hong Kong stocks are expected to receive a boost early in the week because they often move in tandem with their counterparts in the United States, which is the territory's second-largest trading partner after China.
Given high oil prices, market players said they were interested in energy companies, such as CNOOC Ltd and PetroChina Ltd.
Commodities may gain a firmer footing as metal prices stabilised after a sharp fall last week.
"We have a positive view on commodity shares, supported by China's still-robust demand and a possible slight rebound in China commodity prices," said Herbert Lau, a research director at Celestial Asia Securities.
The government is tipped to announce on Tuesday a slight fall in unemployment between July and September to 6.7 percent from 6.8 percent in the June to August period as firms added staff to cope with growing business orders, according to a forecast from eight economists.