More than a dozen firms are currently lining up to sell their shares - hoping to ride a rally in the Hong Kong stock market.

The Hang Seng Index has risen 20 percent from earlier this year.

But analysts say cautious investors won't respond positively to most of the initial public offerings, not with the first-quarter market lull still fresh in their minds.

Some are even predicting that sentiment won't show a turnaround until the third quarter. By that time, questions regarding the global and mainland markets are expected to be answered.

Seller of women's apparel, E-Land Fashion, and fashion and accessories firm Artini both plan to start selling shares to retail investors today in hopes of raising a combined HK$3.76 billion.

They will be followed by companies such as Asia Cement (China) and A9 Digital Music, making the IPO market seem active for the first time this year.

"We've seen some improvements. Some (listing candidates) have returned. The worst may be over," said Ricky Cheung, vice-president of Enlighten Securities and Futures.

Hit by the US credit crunch and an equity market crash on the market, the local IPO market plunged into inactivity at the start of 2008. Eight firms withdrew their listing plans in January and three delayed IPO sales in March. It was a rare wave of apprehension for the world's second-largest listed bourse in recent years.

Just seven firms successfully listed from January to March, compared with 31 a quarter earlier. Among the new offers, two saw their shares' trading prices float above the IPO value. That's contrasted with last year, when most first-day IPO performers easily rose above 10 percent.

Recently, however, IPOs haven't been the sure bet traders hope for.

Ronald Wan, head of investment for BoCom (International), said it doesn't help that the recent batch of candidates haven't been attractive.

Most of them are small and not industry leaders. "Who wants to invest in unknown firms?" Wan asked.

But now, he says the IPO market appears crowded as small firms rush to take advantage of the recent, quick market rebound.

"The recent stock-market may be short-lived," he said, explaining that some investors may fear the impact of tightening measures on the mainland.

Ricky Tam, chairman of the Hong Kong Institution of Investors, said the IPO market won't fully recover until bigger companies are willing to launch IPOs.

This, he said, may happen in the third quarter, when the fears of US subprime woes and uncertainty over mainland tightening policies diminish.