Hong Kong shares are set for a rebound next week following recent sharp losses induced by continuing worries over further interest rate hikes in the United States, dealers said.
Investors are concerned that the Federal Reserve will be more aggressive in raising interest rates amid persistent inflation worries and feared this will drive up local lending costs.
This pushed the market lower with the Hang Seng Index ending the week to October 14 down 361.91 points or 2.44 percent at 14,485.88.
But dealers said the worse could be over as they believed the market has reached bottom.
"I can see the index has reached bottom and there has been some bargain-hunting today. So the market should rebound this week," said DBS Vickers Director Peter Lai.
He said investors will closely watch key US economic data due out later Friday such as consumer price indexes and consumer sentiment which will provide clues for interest rate movement.
"How the market will perform will largely depends on the outcome of tonight's data," Lai said.
The Hang Seng index is likely to trade at a support level of 143,000-14,600 point level.