Hong Kong stocks ended slightly lower in thin trade on Friday as blue chip financial and property stocks ran out of steam and investors took to the sidelines ahead of corporate earnings reports next week.
The market closed just ahead of an announcement by China's national welfare fund that it had won approval to invest in overseas markets.
The fund manages more than US $14 billion in assets and Hong Kong is seen as a prime investment destination. Traders however, said more details were needed.
The blue chip Hang Seng Index ended up 0.01 percent, or 1.15 points, at 13,868.37. The index gained a narrow 0.94 percent over the week.
Volume was below recent averages with HK $14.2 billion (US $1.82 billion) changing hands. "The market doesn't have a key direction.
People are concerned about future share placements and are looking ahead to corporate results next week," said Conita Hung, director at Delta Asia Financial Group.
Traders said 14,000 were proving a difficult level to crack with the market finding support at 13,850. The Hang Seng rose as high as 13,984 in intraday trade on Wednesday but has since slipped back.
Market watchers also said a sudden jump in the weak US dollar this week spooked bullish investors. "The weakness of the US dollar has been the key driving factor for the strength of the Hong Kong market.
With the US dollar now marking time I think we are capped at current levels," said Daniel Poon, head of Hong Kong and China equities at ABN Amro Asia Ltd.
The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US currency, making Hong Kong equities cheap for foreign investors as the greenback languishes at multiyear lows versus other currencies.
Global bank and index heavyweight HSBC Holdings ended unchanged at HK $127 after rising in trade.
The stock hit a historical high of HK $128.50 this week. HSBC posts annual results on March 1, and market watchers say they are factoring in a strong report.
Property shares came under pressure as the market weighed moves by some developers to curb speculative activity after a sharp rise in housing prices over the past several months.
Sun Hung Kai Properties, the city's largest developer, was down 0.97 percent to HK $76.50. Cheung Kong (Holdings), the property flagship of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, fell 0.99 percent to HK $75.25.
And shares in Midland Realty (Holdings) Ltd tumbled 8.0 percent to HK $2.30 after the real estate agency issued a profit warning after some big developers cut commission fees on new home sales.
Telecom shares were steady after large mobile players issued new subscriber figures. China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd, the world's largest cellular firm by users, said on Friday it added 2.48 million users in January, taking the total to 144.098 million.
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