By Summer Zhen

HONG KONG, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks slipped on Monday with some investors locking in gains after the recent rally, and others preferring to stay on the sidelines ahead of the local Mid-Autumn Festival holiday on Tuesday.

** By the lunch break, the Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng .HSI was down 0.61%, on track for the second session of decline.

** Shares of key tech players .HSTECH led the declines, easing 1.2%.

** Automakers Li Auto 2015.HK dropped 2.9%, leading slide on the Hang Seng Automobile Index .HSAMI, which eased 1.1%.

** Xpeng 9868.HK and Geely Auto 0175.HK fell 1.5% and 1.8%, respectively.

** Hong Kong-listed gold miners rose after the precious metal climbed to a record peak with Shandong Gold Mining 1787.HK and Zijin Gold International 2259.HK both surging 5.5%, and Zhaojin Mining 1818.HK up 3.2%

** Gold surged past the $3,900-an-ounce level, driven by safe-haven demand following a fall in the yen and a U.S. government shutdown, among others.

** Mainland China markets are closed from October 1 to 8 for the Golden Week holiday.

** The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI hit 27,381.84 points level on October 2, its highest since July 2021. It ended last week up 3.9%, its biggest weekly gain since early March.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 3462 7745;))