HK shares gain 2 pct as properties, exporters rise

* HK shares rise for fifth straight session

* Properties gain on rate cuts

* Exporters up on brisk U.S. holiday sales

(Updates to midday)

By Jun Ebias

HONG KONG, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares rose 2.1 percent to a three-week high on Monday, as investors snapped up local developers such as Sino Land (0083.HK) on hopes of better sales, while exporters gained on reports of brisk U.S. holiday spending.

Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings (0551.HK), supplier of sports shoes to brands like Nike, gained 3.3 percent, while Foxconn International Holdings (2038.HK), which makes handsets for Nokia, rose 4 percent.

Early results from the Black Friday weekend that kicks off the holiday shopping showed sales grew in stores and online, with consumers encouraged by deep discounts. [ID:nN30476271]

"Investors feel a lot more buoyed by the good retail sales," said Benjamin Collett, head of hedge fund sales at SMBC Co. "In general, the rally today is about bargain hunting, with a lot of investors looking forward to a year-end rally."

Sino Land rose 7.4 percent, Henderson Land gained 4.6 percent, while Hong Kong's top developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016.HK) was up 1.7 percent.

A Sun Hung Kai spokesperson said on Monday that the company had sold more than 200 units in its Peak One luxury residential development in Shatin at the weekend at an average of HK$7,300-7,500 a square foot. It also sold more than 300 units of its La Grove project in Yuen Long in the New Territories.

"Developers are supported by lower mortgage rates at banks, providing a short-term stimulus for property sales," said Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI ended the morning session up 297.56 points at 14,185.80, led by a 3.6 percent rise in China Mobile (0941.HK).

A total of HK$25.6 billion ($3.3 billion) worth of shares were traded, up from HK$21.5 billion at midday on Friday.

Chinese lenders gained on hopes that lower interest rates in the mainland would spur the domestic economy and help sustain demand for loans and other financial services.

China's top lender, ICBC (1398.HK), rose 3.2 percent, while China Construction Bank (0939.HK) gained 3.7 percent.

The Chinese central bank last week made its deepest rate cut in a decade to stimulate domestic demand. China also announced this month a plan to build affordable homes as part of a $586 billion package to stimulate the economy.

China Overseas Land (0688.HK) rallied 8.2 percent, while R&F Properties (2777.HK) surged 13.6 percent, and China Resources Land (1109.HK) soared 9.6 percent.

The China Enterprise Index of top locally listed mainland Chinese firms .HSCE rose 2.9 percent to 7,415.25.

But consumer goods exporter Li & Fung (0494.HK) bucked the broad market trend to fall 1.6 percent. The company said on Sunday it would buy Miles Fashion Group, a German apparel supplier to some of the largest discounters and retail chains in Europe, for $51 million in cash.

Bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (0388.HK) rallied 5.1 percent on optimism that the local stock market may sustain last week's 9.7 percent gain.

"Over the short term, the market sentiment is still quite positive. As we approach the year end, we will probably see some buying as funds engage in window dressing," said Ben Kwong, chief operating officer at KGI Asia Ltd.

Country Garden Holdings (2007.HK) narrowed its gains and was up 5.6 percent, after Standard & Poor's cut its rating on the Chinese developer to BB+ from BBB-. The stock rose as much as 6.3 percent before the downgrade. [ID:nWNA0601] (Additional reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)