Hang Seng Index inches up 66 points at the open

Hong Kong stocks edged higher on Friday, as investors turned cautious ahead of upcoming earnings releases.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index inched up 66 points, or 0.25 percent, to 26,447.

The Hang Seng Tech Index increased by 0.15 percent to 5,117.

Baidu (9988) fell the most among blue chips at the opening after posting a slump in its net profit, with shares down 1.1 percent.

HSBC (0005) kept rising and opened 1.2 percent higher.

The tech sector showed mixed performance. Tencent (0700) and Xiaomi (1810) went down 0.3 percent and 0.8 percent, while Meituan (3690) and NetEase (9999) rose 0.7 percent and 0.1 percent.