Hong Kong shares close up 0.61 pct on oil stocks

By Parvathy Ullatil

HONG KONG, June 6 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares closed 0.61 percent higher in thin trade on Friday, with oil stocks rising after crude prices posted their biggest ever single-day jump.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 gained $6 in after hours trading on Thursday because of a weakening U.S. dollar, and held at about $128 per barrel in Asian trade on Friday.

Shares in offshore oil producer CNOOC (0883.HK) reacted with a 3.1 percent jump and PetroChina (0857.HK) climbed 1.3 percent.

But the prospect of higher fuel costs sent airline stocks tumbling, with Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK) down 3.2 percent and China Southern Airlines (1055.HK) dropping 2.4 percent.

Oil refiner Sinopec Corp (0386.HK), the most actively traded stock of the day, jumped 2.9 percent, on talk of price reforms in petroleum products and speculation that it may privatise or increase its stake in some of its subsidiaries.

"Now that the telecom restructuring is out of the way people are looking for a new theme and there is talk about reforms in the oil industry, particularly the long-discussed changes in the pricing policy for petroleum products," said Peter Pak, vice president, BOCI Research.

China regulates the prices of petroleum products, keeping them artificially low and plunging its refiners into losses.

The Hang Seng Index .HSI closed 146.89 points higher on Friday at 24,402.18.

The rise trimmed the week's losses to 0.53 percent, ahead of the long weekend. The Hong Kong market is closed on Monday for the dragon boat festival.

Turnover on the mainboard fell to its lowest of the week at HK$58.62 billion ($7.52 billion) from HK$63.7 billion on Thursday.

Amid a nervous market, Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings Ltd (0067.HK) withdrew a planned initial public offering in Hong Kong. And the two new listings making their debut on the Hong Kong market on Friday fell below their issue prices.

The China Enterprises Index of locally listed mainland companies .HSCE rose 1.2 percent to 13,513.21, led by a rebound in coal stocks, even as mainland markets slipped ahead of the long weekend.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.66 percent while the turnover in the A-share market shrank to its smallest since December 2006 [nSHA281299].

Yanzhou Coal (1171.HK) surged 3.7 percent, recovering from a two-day slide on worries over government-led price intervention.

Analysts downplayed the impact of the temporary price cut on thermal coal in Yanzhou's home province of Shandong, saying it would cost the company only 15 million yuan.