HK shares linger amid high oil prices; CNOOC gains

* HSI hovers as investors book gains on previous rally * CNOOC advances as oil holds above $130 per barrel * Lenovo slips on IBM share sale, JP Morgan downgrade

(Updates to midday)

HONG KONG, July 22 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares hovered on Tuesday, flitting in and out of positive territory, as investors locked in gains on a four-session, 6.4 percent rally in the benchmark index after crude oil prices rose.

Shares in Chinese PC maker Lenovo (0992.HK) slid 5 percent after U.S. computer giant IBM (IBM.N) sold a 1.3 percent stake in the company for around $77.3 million and JP Morgan downgraded the stock on slowing Chinese demand.

CNOOC (0883.HK) led gainers with a 2 percent jump after fears that a tropical storm could hit U.S. offshore oil installations sent crude over $130 per barrel overnight.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co. (SMIC) (0981.HK)(SMI.N) jumped 12.2 on a news report that Datang Telecom group may buy a 20 percent stake in SMIC, the nation's biggest contract chip maker. [ID:nSHA307114]

The Hang Seng Index .HSI finished the morning session down 9.27 points at 22,523.63, helped by modest gains China Construction Bank (0939.HK) and China Mobile (0941.HK).

Mainboard turnover fell to HK$27.2 billion ($3.5 billion) from HK$39.6 billion at midday on Monday.

Esprit (0330.HK) dragged the main index lower, falling 2.3 percent after the company's deputy chairman and group CFO, John Poon, resigned with effect from July 20, ahead of the company's results in August. Analysts said the company had denied any connection between Poon's resignation and a potential earnings disappointment.

"Although the departure of John Poon will create short-term hiccups to operation, we believe management will be able to smooth out the operation," said Anne Ling, analyst with Deutsche Bank.

The China Enterprises Index .HSCE of top locally listed Chinese firms fell 0.3 percent.

Higher oil prices ended a rally in refiners and airline stocks, with Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) giving up 0.8 percent and Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK) dropping 3.7 percent.

Aluminium Corp of China (Chalco) (2600.HK), the country's largest producer of the metal, fell 3.2 percent after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the stock to neutral from buy on Monday on expectations of another power tariff hike by Beijing.

On Monday, Chalco said it may lose 30,000 metric tonnes of output after it halted some capacity at two ventures in Shanxi province because of a power shortage.

Cement stocks took a beating after Goldman Sachs cut Anhui Conch (0914.HK)(600585.SS) and rival China National Building Materials (3323.HK) to sell from neutral on Monday, citing potential difficulties in passing on climbing coal and power prices. [ID:nHKG107929]

Anhui Conch (0914.HK) slumped 6.9 percent, adding to Monday's 6 percent decline. CNBM fell 4.4 percent.