HK, China shares stall; commodity stocks drop

(Updates to midday)

HONG KONG, May 26 (Reuters) - Hong Kong and China shares hovered in the morning session on Tuesday amid a lack of major positive news to drive further gains while lower oil prices weighed on resource-linked stocks.

The strong run up in both markets in recent weeks, with the Hang Seng Index jumping more than 50 percent since early March and the Shanghai Composite Index rising by nearly a quarter in the same period, have made investors cautious about valuations, said analysts.

Here are the index moves and major stock moves in both markets by midday-

HONG KONG

* The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI was up 0.1 percent at 17,141.73, after opening 0.4 percent lower.

* Turnover edged up to HK$31.8 billion ($4.1 billion) from midday Monday's HK$31.2 billion.

* "Money is not flowing into the market as eagerly as it was two weeks ago and that is partly because neither Hong Kong nor China are inexpensive places to buy shares in anymore," said Linus Yip, strategist with First Shanghai Securities.

"The magnitude of the impending correction very much hinges on news from the U.S. and China."

* The China Enterprises Index .HSCE of top mainland companies was 0.1 percent lower at 9,789.94.

* Shares in Hong Kong-based property developers shot up, rising to a nine-month high with the current low interest rate environment seen driving up demand for real estate.

In recent days top brokers including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan have taken a favourable view of the sector, raising price forecasts amid expectations that demand will recover further in the second half of 2009.

* Sino Land (0083.HK) hit a nine-month high, climbing 8.9 percent to HK$13.96, while top developer Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016.HK) piled on 3.4 percent after rising to its highest level since October 2008 earlier in the session.

* Bejing-backed CITIC Pacific (0267.HK), which has risen more than 80 percent since a top management reshuffle, added another 6.9 percent to HK$17.10 on Tuesday after its new chairman reassured investors the company would continue to dispose off non-core assets.

* BYD Co (1211.HK) jumped nearly 5 percent to a record high on Tuesday after German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) said it would explore options to partner with the Chinese car battery maker in the area of hybrid and electric vehicles.

The stock trimmed gains to 2.1 percent after rising to an all-time high of HK$34.50. The value of BYD's shares have multiplied 2-½ times since the beginning of April, mostly owing to a surge in demand for vehicles in China.