China, HK stocks post modest gains after anticipated rate cut

(Repeats to attach to alerts) SHANGHAI, March 2 (Reuters) - China stocks posted modest gains on Monday after the central bank cut interest rates over the weekend, with some investors expressing disappointment that it didn't cut borrowing costs more deeply. The People's Bank of China cut interest rates for the second time in just over three months late on Saturday as the government steps up efforts to support the slowing economy amid the mounting threat of deflation. Dacheng Fund Management Co Ltd said that the timing of the quarter-point rate cut was well within market expectations, but the scale was less than anticipated, with some investors hoping for a 50-basis point reduction. The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 0.8 percent to 3,601.27 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8 percent to 3,336.28. Among the most active stocks in Shanghai were Bank Of China , unchanged at 4.11 yuan; China Petroleum , down 1.1 percent to 6.25 yuan and Agricultural Bank of China, up 0.3 percent to 3.35 yuan. In Shenzhen, TCL Corp, up 3.8 percent to 5.21 yuan; BOE Technology, up 0.6 percent to 3.18 yuan and Vanke, up 0.2 percent to 12.77 yuan were among the most actively traded. Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 34.5 billion shares, while Shenzhen volume was 24.1 billion shares. (Reporting by Samuel Shen and Pete Sweeney; Editing by Kim Coghill)