HSI Wobbles After Beijing's Overtime Warning

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished fractionally lower on Friday after tech shares slumped following a statement by the mainland's top court saying an overtime practice common among Chinese tech firms is illegal.

In an article, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said the "996" practice, which involves working from 9am to 9pm for six days a week, is against the law.

The authorities cited past incidents where courts had ruled it unlawful for companies to force staff to work extra hours, including a case involving an unidentified tech firm asking employees to give up on overtime pay.

According to the article, the government and the courts are now planning to devise a set of guidelines to help resolve future labour disputes.

The note sent shares of Alibaba tumbling to close down nearly four percent. The e-commerce giant's founder, Jack Ma, had boasted about the "996" arrangement, calling long work hours "a huge blessing."

Heavyweight Tencent fell 1.1 percent. Meituan slipped 0.8 percent ahead of its results announcement on Monday.

The Hang Seng Index gained as many as 225 points in the morning before reversing course to lose more than 100 points in the afternoon. But it managed to recover most of the losses to close down seven points at 25,407, on turnover of HK$128.9 billion.

For the week, the blue-chip index added 2.2 percent.

Ping An Insurance jumped four percent on Friday to become one of the day's best performers on the benchmark, despite the mainland insurer reporting a 15.5 percent drop in interim net profit.

The biggest blue-chip winner was China Resources Land, which soared 5.3 percent.

Mainland carmakers also fared well. Geely Auto advanced 2.6 percent, while BYD Company gained 2.3 percent.

Shares across the border rose after the People's Bank of China made its largest weekly cash injection into the banking system since February. The Shanghai Composite Index and the blue-chip CSI300 index each put on 0.5 percent. The Shenzhen Composite edged up 0.2 percent.

Taiwan shares were 0.8 percent firmer. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2 percent. But the Nikkei in Japan lost 0.4 percent. Australia was marginally lower. Singapore declined 0.9 percent.

In currencies, the US dollar strengthened following hawkish comments by US Federal Reserve officials calling for the scaling back of bond purchases ahead of a key Jackson Hole summit hosted by the central bank.