Hong Kong stocks paused for breath on Friday after two days of hefty losses, with investors remaining cautious ahead of key US data and on continued interest rate worries.
Large cap blue chip China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd rose 1.14 percent to HK$35.35 after dropping more than 7 percent over the past two sessions. But China's top offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd fell 2.9 percent to HK$5 after being censured by the Hong Kong stock exchange for disclosing profit details in 2002 to a select group of fund managers and media.
"It's been very cautious trading. Technically the market is oversold but investor confidence is still fragile. There's a feeling that the US Federal Reserve is behind the curve and it has to raise rates even at the expense of economic growth," said Louis Wong, research Director at Phillip Securities.
The blue chip Hang Seng Index ended 0.06 percent, or 8.49 points, higher at 14,847.79. The index fell 3.76 percent over the course of a volatile trading week, which saw the index fall to five-week lows. Volume was in line with recent averages, with HK$18.53 billion (US $2.37 billion) worth of shares exchanged. But trade was subdued ahead of the closely watched US jobs report due out later on Friday.
A Reuters poll shows economists expect 143,000 jobs were lost in September following a devastating hurricane late in the summer. The jobless rate is expected to rise to 5.1 percent from 4.9 percent in August.
Hong Kong markets will be shut on Tuesday for a public holiday and Japan markets are shut on Monday. The US stock market will be open on Monday but other markets there will be shut for the Columbus Day holiday.
Dealers said the Hang Seng was unlikely to rebound in the coming week with interest rate worries continuing to weigh. China plays may react to news coming out of China's Communist Party leadership four-day closed-door plenary meeting, which begins on Saturday.
The meeting aims to map out economic policy over the next five years. Hong Kong's new leader Donald Tsang will deliver his maiden policy address on Wednesday with markets focused on any hints of upcoming tax cuts or fresh incentives to boost the city's growing trade ties with mainland China.
Rate-sensitive property stocks were largely lower on Friday with investors worried that further interest rate rises would dampen the city's booming property market.
The Hang Seng properties sub index fell 0.3 percent. Property developer New World Development Co Ltd was one of the few exceptions. Its share rose 4.6 percent to HK$10.20 after it said it would rush to convert around two million square feet of agricultural lands into residential sites this financial year.