Hk shares end up 1.9 pct in China Mobile-led late rally

* China Mobile leads on forecast-beating H1 results

* China Life jumps in extended post-result relief rally

* Resources stocks rise amid higher commodity prices

(Updates to close)

By Parvathy Ullatil

HONG KONG, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares closed 1.9 percent higher on Wednesday, lifted by sharp post-earnings relief rallies in index heavyweights China Mobile (0941.HK) and China Life (2628.HK).

The market posted most of its gains in the post-lunch session, an encore of Tuesday's late rally, driven by frenetic buying ahead of the index futures expiry on Thursday.

"Futures rollover-related buying has peaked between Tuesday and today," said Patrick Yiu, associate director at CASH Asset Management.

"Investors seem keen on swapping their contracts at the 21,000 to 21,200 level, and today China Mobile results proved to the catalyst for that big push."

China Mobile led gainers with a 3.5 percent jump after posting forecast beating first-half earnings, while shares of the nation's top insurer shot up 4.9 percent in an extended rally as investors continued to cheer the smaller-than-expected decline in its bottom line.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI closed up 408.06 points at 21,464.72 after ending the morning session just 0.7 percent higher.

Mainboard turnover rose to HK$61 billion ($7.8 billion) from Tuesday's dismal HK$48 billion.

Offshore oil producer CNOOC (0883.HK) climbed 3.8 percent. Oil prices hovered near $117 per barrel as Hurricane Gustav headed towards U.S. oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Asia's largest oil & gas company, Petrochina (0857.HK), was up 3.4 percent. Both oil majors were to announce their first half earnings later in the day.

Coal stocks jumped in Hong Kong, defying declines in their Shanghai-listed scripts after Chinese authorities said they would strengthen enforcement of price caps on thermal coal.

China Shenhua (1088.HK) gained 5.7 percent while smaller rival China Coal (1898.HK) advanced 6.3 percent.