HK Hot Stocks - Financials, telecoms rally

HONG KONG, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI had risen 1.8 percent to 13,830.01 at 0220 GMT on Thursday.

The China Enterprise Index of top locally listed mainland Chinese firms .HSCE was up 2.8 percent to 7,437.16.

Here are some of the stocks on the move:

* Financial stocks rallied after China said it planned to stabilise its stock market and ensure liquidity in the banking system. China's top lenders, such as Construction Bank (0939.HK), would likely benefit from Beijing's plan to spend $586 billion on infrastructure to lift the economy, Citi said in a report.

"We believe big state banks are likely to have better loan growth visibility in 2009, given strong government relationships (and) better access to infrastructure projects," Citi said in a December 3 report.

China's biggest lender, ICBC (1398.HK), gained 3.1 percent, while smaller rival China Construction Bank rose 2.1 percent.

The nation's No.1 insurer, China Life Insurance (2628.HK), rose 3.7 percent, while smaller rivals Ping An Insurance (2318.HK) soared 5.4 percent and PICC P&C (2328.HK) surged 9.3 percent.

* Cheung Kong (Holdings) (0001.HK) rose 2 percent. The developer said late on Wednesday it would sell a 15 percent stake in a property development project in Tsuen Wan to Nan Fung Development Ltd in a deal valued at about HK$435.52 million. For statement please see here

* Chinese telecom shares jumped on renewed speculation that 3G licences will be issued by the end of the year.

The nation's biggest cellular phone network, China Mobile (0941.HK), rose 3.4 percent, while smaller rival China Unicom 0762 gained 4.1 percent. China Telecom (0728.HK) was up 8.8 percent.

* Oil refiner Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) rose 2.5 percent as crude oil prices fell. Oil prices extended their losses as fuel demand in the U.S. continued to crumble. [ID:nSP68559]

* i-Cable Communications (1097.HK) fell 13.9 percent. The company said on Wednesday its controlling shareholder had decided not to proceed with a possible privatisation proposal. It gave no further details. Trading in the shares will resume on Thursday.

(Reporting by Jun Ebias and Donny Kwok; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)