Hong Kong share prices will fluctuate wildly next week as investors continue to grapple with the uncertainties of the global economy, a dealer said. For the week ending February 27, the benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9 percent, or 112.4 points, to 12,811.57.
Peter Lai, sales director of DBS Vickers, said, the market would be largely driven by news and sentiment next week. "The market is going to be very volatile because there are too many variables and uncertainties," he told AFP, adding that he expected the index to trade between 11,800 and 13,800 next week.
Investors will take a cue from the performance of the Shanghai bourse as well as the announcement of HSBC's results on Monday. "If HSBC's earnings turn out to be weaker than expected or if it is going to issue a cash call, its share price will continue to dive, dragging down other financial stocks," Lai said. HSBC was down 0.9 percent at 56.95 Hong Kong dollars (7.30 dollars) when the market closed on Friday, on rumours that it would undertake a rights issue to raise as much as 20 billion US dollars. "Caution remains for HSBC as shares are failing to extend gains despite a sharp rise in its London shares," Louis Wong, a director at Phillip Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires. Wong said he believed the stock may retrace to about 55 dollars in the near term.