* CSI300 -0.24 pct; SSEC -0.15 pct; HSI +0.59 pct;
* Trading volume in Shanghai thin ahead of Lunar New Year
* China stocks may see consolidation for months - trader
SHANGHAI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - China stocks retreated early onThursday despite fresh central bank moves to improve short-termliquidity, as investor confidence was not strong enough toextend a three-day winning streak for the main indexes.
Traders said the People's Bank of China has injected a net205 billion yuan ($32.82 billion) into the money market thisweek, the biggest weekly injection since January.
And late on Wednesday, the central bank said it wouldincrease credit to some financial institutions through a lendingfacility to ameliorate short-term cash shortages ahead of theLunar New Year holiday.
"In addition to easing policies we see today, there could befurther cuts in interest rates and reserve requirements ahead,"said Wu Kan, head of equity trading at investment firm ShanshanFinance in Shanghai.
"But these tools are designed either to ease short-termliquidity, or cushion the impact of slower economic growth," hesaid. "Fundamentals of the economy remain poor."
Wu added that the market, which surged about 50 percent overthe past few months, has entered a "consolidation period" thatmay last for three months.
The CSI300 index slipped 0.24 percent to 3425.71points at the end of the morning session, while the ShanghaiComposite Index lost 0.15 percent.
But in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.59percent, led by the financial sector as HSBC Holdings PLC rebounded after sharp falls the previous day.
Trading volume in Shanghai remained thin on Thursday, after a three-month low the previous day, reflecting investor cautionand the proximity of the Lunar New Year holiday, analysts said.
Relatively inactive trading was also partly the result of abusy week for IPOs, as 24 companies are raising fresh capital,locking up an estimated 2 trillion yuan in the market.
China CNR , one of the country'sbiggest railway-industry firms, surged 8.11 percent in Shanghaiand rose nearly 3 percent in Hong Kong after saying it wasinterested in buying foreign rail-linked technologies.
Shares of Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co Ltd jumped 5.7 percent after Fonterra Co-Operative Group of NewZealand submitted a tender offer for a stake of up to 20 percentin the Chinese infant-formula maker. GRAPHICS
New A-share account openings http://bit.ly/1wvJ9S9
China trading volumes hit records in 2014 http://link.reuters.com/vag73w
($1 = 6.2459 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Samuel Shen, Pete Sweeney and the ShanghaiNewsroom; Editing by Richard Borsuk)