The Hong Kong dollar firmed slightly against the US dollar on Thursday, while short-dated interbank rates were trapped in narrow ranges after opening softer. The local currency was trading at 7.7538/40 per US dollar, compared with 7.7545/47 in late Asian trade on Wednesday.

"We are focusing on the fund flows following the listing of this year's biggest IPO," said a trader from a European bank, adding that recent sluggish stocks and expectations of higher US interest rates could limit the local currency's advance.

Shares of China Construction Bank started trading on Thursday after the lender raised $8 billion in the world's biggest IPO in four years.

Copyright Reuters, 2005