HK shares gain for 3rd day; China stocks slow down

(Updates to midday)

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, June 26 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks rose 1.2 percent, heading for a third straight winning session on Friday, as investors continued to pile into property and bank stocks on signs the U.S. and China will keep to their easy monetary policies for some time.

But China-listed stocks drifted lower after hitting a one-year closing high on Thursday and gaining 1.3 percent so far this week.

Chinese bank stocks built on previous gains after the official China Securities Journal reported that new lending could reach 1.2 trillion yuan in June, pushing the first-half total past 7 trillion yuan.

Top lender ICBC (1398.HK) rose 1.7 percent to 5.53 yuan in Shanghai while Bank of Communications (3328.HK) surged 4.1 percent to HK$8.44 in Hong Kong.

The central bank said late on Thursday that it would stick to an appropriately easy monetary policy to support an economy that is heading in the right direction but is not yet on a solid footing. [ID:nLP512447]

Here are index moves and top stock moves by midday-

HONG KONG

* The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI was up 1.2 percent at 18,487.65.

* Turnover dropped to HK$32.8 billion from midday Thursday's HK$3.7 billion.

* The China Enterprises Index .HSCE, which represents top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks, had risen 1.9 percent to 10,968.39.

* " After the cautious comments from the World Bank and other agencies this week, investors may have even less confidence in a recovery in developed economies. China and Hong Kong are still the places to invest in and last week's correction also freed up some hot money for bargain hunting," said Philip Chan, head of research with CAF Securities.

* China Shenhua (1088.HK), the world's largest coal miner rose 4.6 percent to HK$27.45 after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the stock to buy from neutral as demand for the commodity showed signs of picking up, while supply from small mines remained tight. The brokerage set a target price of HK$35 on the stock.

* Smaller rival Yanzhou Coal (1171.HK) piled on 4.5 percent to HK$10.64. Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy from neutral with a target price of HK$13.20.

* Asia-focused Standard Chartered (2888.HK) dropped 0.9 percent after it said on Thursday that it remained cautious on its outlook, with consumer banking income for the first half expected to be lower than the previous six months and bad debts rising sharply in the division. [ID:nLP44217]

Another UK-based bank with a strong presence in Asia, HSBC (0005.HK), fell 1.3 percent to HK$65.