HONG KONG, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong stocks rose 78.18 points, or 0.30 percent, to close at 26,262.13 on Tuesday, helped by the rise of some major blue chips in the telecom, property and oil sector.

    Turnover shrank to 69.74 billion HK dollars (8.95 billion U.S. dollars) from Monday's 74.03 billion HK dollars, indicating that investors are not eager to take positions at the current level.

    Analysts expect trading to be choppy in the near term as a potential recession in the U.S. remains a major overhang on the Hong Kong market, and the market is also eyeing the performance in mainland market.

    Telecommunications companies jumped on hopes that the mainland will soon restructure the telecom sector, traders said. China Telecom was the biggest gainer in the sector, rising 3 percent to 5.55 HK dollars. China Netcom advanced 2.2 percent to 25.05 HK dollars, and China Mobile rose 1.4 percent to 136.30 HK dollars.

    Local property companies rose after Merrill Lynch said the sector is a laggard. Wharf rose 2.1 percent to 41.15 HK dollars, Sun Hung Kai Properties advanced 0.8 percent to 143.40 HK dollars, and Swire was up 1.2 percent at 96.60 HK dollars.

    "We expect developer stocks will catch up strongly in the coming three to six months," said Merrill Lynch analyst Keith Yeung. "Hong Kong's economy may slow down, but not to a level that could lead to lower residential prices," Yeung said.

    Airlines bucked the trend, falling because of rising oil prices. Blue-chip carrier Cathay Pacific fell 1.3 percent to 16.84 HK dollars, Air China slid 3.2 percent to 6.33 HK dollars, China Eastern was down 1.6 percent at 3.80 HK dollars, and China Southern fell 3.2 percent to 5.52 HK dollars.

    Light sweet crude oil for June delivery settled at a record 119. 97 U.S. dollars a barrel in New York on Monday, 39 cents below a record in trade day peak of 120.36 U.S. dollars a barrel.

    On the rise of crude oil, CNOOC, the largest offshore oil producer in China, rose 0.4 dollars or 2.96 percent to 13.9 HK dollars.