By Michael Kitchen LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks moved higher as the holiday-shortened trading session kicked off Thursday, with resource shares among the leading advancers, helped by strength in the commodity markets. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.6% to 21,444.9 in the early minutes, while the mainland-China-focused Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 0.9% to 12,643.9. Mainland oil companies were rallying, with Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883 12.06, +0.20, +1.69%) (CEO 153.89, -0.64, -0.41%) up 1.7%, and PetroChina Co. (HK:857 9.29, +0.18, +1.98%) (PTR 118.54, +0.05, +0.04%) rising 1.2%. Miners also did well, with Angang Steel Co. (HK:347 16.88, +0.26, +1.56%) (ANGGF 2.17, +0.11, +5.34%) gaining 2.3%. Shares of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (HK:175 4.26, +0.28, +7.04%) (GELYF 0.57, +0.08, +16.33%) jumped by 7.3% after news its corporate parent is close to a deal to buy the Volvo brand from Ford Motor Co. (F 10.13, +0.05, +0.50%) . Gains were more modest in Shanghai, where the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,085.1, and PetroChina shares (CN:601857 13.25, +0.12, +0.91%) gained just 0.2%. The Hong Kong market was slated to close at 12:30 p.m. local time ahead of the Friday Christmas holiday, while the Shanghai exchange was set for a full session.

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