* HSI up 1.3 pct, breaks away from 200-day moving average
* Shanghai gains 1 pct, below key 2,700-level
* HKEx rises 3.9 percent as turnover picks up
* Ping An Insurance bucks upward trend
* Market players await China trade data due on Friday (Updates to midday)
By Vikram S Subhedar and Chen Yixin
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's benchmark index rose on Monday morning, breaking away from its 200-day moving average, with market players looking to trade data from China due on Friday for momentum to sustain recent gains in global markets.
Asian stocks hit a one-month high after the latest U.S. jobs data tempered the bearish sentiment about worldwide economic recovery, spurring a relief rally.
The Hang Seng Index was up 1.32 percent by the midday trading break, its biggest single-day rise in more than a month, to 21,248.95. The China Enterprise Index had gained 1.1 percent to 11,893.15.
"The jobs data is the main factor boosting investor confidence worldwide and set the stage for Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks to rally," said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities.
Volumes picked up despite the U.S. Labor Day holiday, suggesting investor confidence was returning after a lacklustre summer that had seen trading volumes plummet.
Investors are now looking ahead to China's trade data due on Friday, which are expected to show further evidence of robust exports and strong internal demand, easing worries of a slowdown.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, which operates the stock exchange and relies heavily on trading activity for commissions and revenue, was up 3.9 percent and the morning's top gainer on the Hang Seng Index. The gain was the company's biggest jump since June 21, when exchange turnover crossed HK$90 billion for only the second time this year.
Bucking the trend was Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd, down 0.9 percent and the biggest drag on the Hang Seng Index. Investors pocketed gains from the more than 8 percent rally last week after shares resumed trading following the company's purchase of a controlling stake in Shenzen Development Bank Ltd.
SHANGHAI FIRMS, TESTS 2,700
China stocks rose 1 percent with large cap steel stocks outperforming after media said some steel mills were ordered to shut down, a move seen benefitting companies such as Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd.
Eighteen steel mills in Hebei province that did not meet state requirements for environmental protection and energy savings had been forced to close since Sunday, the China Securities Journal reported.
The Shanghai Composite Index was at 2,681.5 points, extending last week's 1.7 percent rally on the back of better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data and U.S. payrolls numbers.
But analysts still expect uncertainty over Chinese economic data in coming weeks to keep the index trading narrowly around 2,700 points, a mark the index has repeatedly failed to breach in the past month.
"Although blue chips boosted the index today, we are still taking a wait-and-see attitude because of the uncertain economic data," said Zhang Yanbing, an analyst at Zheshang Securities in Shanghai.
Hebei Iron and Steel Co Ltd, the biggest gainer on the Shenzhen market, rose 5.1 percent, while Baosteel was up 3.5 percent.
Insurance counters also outperformed after China said it would allow insurers to broaden investment channels into private equity and real estate, a move that could unleash as much as $100 billion worth of fresh funding into unlisted firms and the property sector.
Ping An Insurance rose 3.5 percent while China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd was up 2.9 percent.
Small-cap stocks bucked the trend, succumbing to profit-taking after recent gains.
Dalian Yi Qiao Marine Seed Co Ltd dived by its 10 percent daily limit after soaring 82 percent in the past seven sessions. Guangdong Palm Landscape Architecture Co Ltd also dropped by its 10 percent daily limit. (Additional reporting by Carmen Ng; Editing by Chris Lewis)