HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares fell 0.17 percent on Friday, ending a week of healthy gains and following a negative lead from Wall Street.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index edged down 38.44 points to 22,915.28 on turnover of HK$57.40 billion ($7.41 billion).
Analysts said investors were largely keeping to the sidelines ahead of next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve, widely expected to produce a decision on how the Fed will proceed with its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying programme.
Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG, said a decline in US bond yields offered little direction to the market. Yields have in recent months risen sharply in preparation for the end of the Fed's buying.
"The current price action has kept investors guessing, and as a result caution might be warranted," Shamu said.
Despite the lacklustre trade on Friday, Hong Kong still rose for the week, adding 1.3 percent.
A slew of improved economic readings from China gave a boost to stocks across the region at the start of the week.
Property shares weighed on the index after Hong Kong property giant Sun Hung Kai reported a rare miss in full-year earnings as government measures to cool the property market slowed sales.
SHK shares fell 1.4 percent to HK$101.70. Fellow developer Cheung Kong shed 1.3 percent to HK$113.20, while Henderson Land dropped 0.9 percent to HK$46.40.
Chinese shares ended down 0.86 percent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 19.39 points to 2,236.22 on turnover of 140.6 billion yuan ($23.0 billion). However, the index rose 4.5 percent over the week.
The losses snapped a five-session winning streak for the index, which rose 4.5 percent over the past week.
"The pullback is reasonable after a surge and the downside room could be limited given hopes for further reforms by Beijing," Tebon Securities analyst Zhang Haidong told Dow Jones Newswires.
China Minsheng Banking dropped 3.91 percent to 9.84 yuan, Everbright Securities shed 2.02 percent to 10.21 yuan and China Life Insurance fell 1.93 percent to 14.72 yuan.
Coal firms and some Shanghai-based companies linked to a planned free-trade zone in the city, which has raised hopes about economic reforms, also fell after recent gains.
Shanxi Coal International Energy fell 2.70 percent to 6.12 yuan, while Shanxi Coking eased 2.46 percent to 6.73 yuan.
Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development was 4.28 percent down at 8.49 yuan and Shanghai International Port Group dropped 2.54 percent to 6.51 yuan.
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