(Updates to market close)

By Summer Zhen

HONG KONG, May 17 (Reuters) - China and Hong Kong stocks

ended on a buoyant note on Friday as traders cheered Beijing's

sweeping steps to stabilise the crisis-hit property sector.

Led by homebuilders, most sectors advanced in the noon

session after China announced a raft of measures spanning from

allowing local governments to buy "some" apartments, relaxing

mortgage rules, to pledging to deliver unfinished homes.

The steps have offset the stalling sentiment in the morning

after disappointing retail sales and property data.

"We've seen increased urgency from policymakers to

stabilise the housing market, which is welcome news after we saw

April's housing prices with the steepest month-on-month decline

of the current cycle," said Lynn Song, chief economist of

Greater China at ING.

CSI 300 Real Estate index and Hong Kong-listed

mainland property firms jumped 9% and 5%, respectively.

** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up

1.01% at 3,154.03.

** The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 1.03%, with its

financial sector sub-index higher by 2.14%, the

consumer staples sector up 1.09%, the real estate

index up 9.13% and the healthcare sub-index

down 0.29%.

** The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 1.18% and the

start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by

1.124%.

** In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 177.08

points, or 0.91%, at 19,553.61. The Hang Seng China Enterprises

index rose 0.92% to 6,934.7.

** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares

rose 0.7%, while the IT sector rose 1.36%,

the financial sector ended 0.53% higher and the property

sector rose 2.52%.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index

was weaker by 0.14%, while Japan's Nikkei index

closed down 0.34%.