* Bank stocks in Shanghai surge on reserve ratio cut talk
* Commodity stocks down as energy and metal prices drop
* Gome vaults in HK after announcing Bain Capital investment (Updates to close)
By Parvathy Ullatil & Claire Zhang
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, June 23 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares retreated 2.9 percent to a one-month low on Tuesday spurred by lower energy and metals prices as doubts swirled about the pace of still nascent global economic recovery.
But China stocks finished flat, after staging a comeback late in the session, with bank stocks surging on market talk that the central bank would cut the reserve ratio.
Bank of China shot up 6 percent to 4.77 yuan in Shanghai, but fell 4.2 percent in Hong Kong where Chinese bank counters were among the biggest drags on the main index.
"A rumour is just a rumour, sometimes. There seems to be no need for a reserve rate cut at this point but sentiment in China is such that even a slight whiff of positive news can ignite the market. Hong Kong is always more cautious," said UOB Kay Hian director Steven Leung.
The premium gap between yuan-denominated A shares and their Hong Kong-listed H-share counterparts shot up to a 2-½ month high on Tuesday.
GOME STANDS OUT IN HONG KONG
The benchmark Hang Seng Index finished down 521.18 points at 17,538.37 with all but three stocks languishing in the red.
"The three-month rally we've had was quite a long one and now we are headed for a 1-½ month correction. The trend is likely to be W-shaped as funds move in and out of risky assets," said KGI Asia chief operating officer Ben Kwong.
The main index has piled on 29 percent so far in the second quarter of 2009.
Scandal-tainted Chinese electronics retailer GOME was up 68.8 percent at HK$1.89 as it emerged out of a seven-month trading suspension after announcing a major capital raising move and signed on U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital as a new investor.
GOME shares soared to a nine-month high of HK$2.32 earlier in the day. Merrill Lynch upgraded GOME to "buy" from "underperform", saying the "worst is over and short-term risk is under control".
Turnover rose to HK$66.2 billion from midday Monday's HK$62.7 billion.
The China Enterprises Index, which represents top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks, dropped 3.4 percent to 10,280.13.
Manulife Financial extended Monday's losses to a one-month low after the Canadian insurer received an enforcement notice from the Ontario Securities Commission that found the company had failed to meet certain disclosure obligations. The stock was down 9.8 percent at HK$141.40, while its Toronto-listed scrip retreated 12 percent on Monday.
Asia's largest oil & gas refiner PetroChina slid 4.4 percent after crude oil extended its decline toward $67 per barrel on Tuesday from a drop of more than $2 a day earlier. Offshore oil specialist CNOOC shed 4.3 percent, while Asia's top refiner Sinopec Corp fell 3.7 percent.
Other commodity stock were also battered, with the world's No.3 alumina producer Aluminum Corp of China dropping 6.6 percent, while coal miner China Coal Energy shrank 5.2 percent.
GCL-Poly Energy, an independent power cogeneration plant operator in China, jumped 15.2 percent to finish at a 1-½ year closing high of HK$2.88 after agreeing to buy a Jiangsu-based polysilicon and wafer maker for $3.38 billion.
The deal will be settled by $200 million in cash, an issue of notes worth $350 million and an issue of new shares at HK$2.2 each, a 12 percent discount to the last closing price of HK$2.50 on June 3, prior to its trading suspension.
RESERVE RATIO RUMOURS MOVE SHANGHAI
Chinese stocks slipped 0.12 percent on Tuesday, retreating from a near 11-month high but outperforming other Asian markets led by banking counters.
"Mutual funds bought banks as their valuations are still attractive, the index does not lack momentum to hit new highs as more signs of economy recovery lift sentiment," said Huatai Securities analyst Chen Huiqin.
The Shanghai Composite Index ended down 3.605 points at 2,892.697 points after hitting an intraday high of 2,941.055.
Losing Shanghai A shares outnumbered gainers by 578 to 333, while turnover in Shanghai A shares was active at 144.1 billion yuan ($21.1 billion) against Monday's 147.7 billion yuan.
Su Ning, a vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, on Tuesday said the Chinese economy was headed in the right direction, but the foundation of the recovery was not yet solid.
A government statistician said in remarks published on Tuesday that China's annual gross domestic product growth for the second quarter would probably accelerate to close to 8 percent from 6.1 percent in the first three months of the year.
Guotai Junan Securities on Monday lifted the forecast for fourth-quarter GDP growth to 9.6 percent and forecast the stock market could rise in the second half of the year.
CITIC Securities sank 2.88 percent to 28.32 yuan after announcing the National Audit Office had found violations in related operations including the company itself and its parent. CITIC said the investigation would not affect earnings.
Coal shares fell after Inner Mongolia, China's second-largest coal producing province in 2008, became the seventh regional government to set up a coal price adjustment fund starting July 1.
Huolinhe Opencut Coal Industry of Inner Mongolia lost 2.86 percent to 24.46 yuan after saying the new rule would have a major impact on earnings.
The most heavily weighted stock in the index, PetroChina dropped 2.53 percent to 13.88 yuan after oil fell below $67 per barrel on Tuesday. (Editing by Chris Lewis)