Striking Hong Kong dock workers camped outside the headquarters of Asia's richest man Li Ka-shing pledged to stay put Friday despite the collapse of a contractor at the centre of the dispute. The workers were demanding a 20 percent pay rise as the strike entered its 23rd day, and called on Li to intervene in the impasse, which has drawn attention to the city's high living costs and wealth gap.

By Grace Li HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than 200 striking dock workers camped outside the headquarters of Asia's richest man on Wednesday, pressing demands for a pay rise at a port operated by the tycoon that has disrupted traffic in the world's third-largest container port. Unionists say they have had no pay increase for 10 years. Other demands have included improved hygiene facilities.

Hong Kong stocks gave up their early gains to edge 0.06 percent lower on Friday, capping a three-day rally, despite another record performance on Wall Street. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dipped 12.22 points to end at 22,089.05 on turnover of HK$49.88 billion ($6.44 billion). The market had risen 1.8 percent over the previous three days. US investors provided a positive lead after the Labor Department said new claims for unemployment benefits came in at 346,000 last week, below the forecast 365,000 and a sharp fall from the previous week.

Telecom Italia said Thursday it had set up a special committee to examine a merger with 3 Italia, a unit of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. Hutchison Whampoa has indicated it is interested in becoming the leading shareholder in Telecom Italia, the former national phone company said following a board meeting. The company suffered a net loss of 1.6 billion euros ($2 bn) in 2012. ahe/rl/mfp Telecom Italia Hutchison Whampoa