The U.S Federal Reserve meeting minutes issued overnight signaled the possibility of interest rate hikes in the U.S. to curb inflation, worrying investors and pressuring property stocks, said Francis Lun, a general manager at Fulbright Securities Ltd.

Hong Kong investors usually pay close attention to U.S. rates because the territory tends to follow the lead of the American monetary policy. The local currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar.

"Persistent strong performance in China's stock market will propel Hang Seng Index toward 20,500 points after the short consolidation," said Castor Pang, a strategist at Sun Hung Kai Research Ltd.

Chinese stocks rose to their ninth straight record high Thursday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 1 percent to a record 3,531.03 close.

Bucking the downward trend, China Life rose 2.4 percent to HK$24.75 after rival Ping An Insurance reported a robust 86 percent rise in net profit last year. Ping An rose 6.1 percent to HK$42.75.

This is cache, read story here