SEOUL, July 23 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may rise on Friday
led by blue chips such as Samsung Electronics with
investor confidence was restored after strong earnings by U.S.
companies, analysts said.
'A solid set of U.S. earnings will boost sentiment in Seoul and shares will probably start off positively,' said Choi Kwang-hyeok, a market analyst at Hanwha Securities.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 0.76 percent at 1,735.53 points on Thursday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2208 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1093.67 2.25% 24.080 USD/JPY 87.02 -0.01% -0.010
10-YR US TSY YLD 2.9317 -
0.000 SPOT GOLD 1194.25 -0.09% -1.100 US CRUDE 79.12 -0.23% -0.180 DOW JONES 10322.30 1.99% 201.77 ASIA ADRS 120.00 2.76% 3.22
MARKET SUMMARY *Earnings lift Wall St, but Amazon.com plunges *Oil jumps above $78 on Mexican Gulf storm fears *Euro rallies on strong data; stress tests loom *Treasuries retreat;stocks rally pares safety bid
STOCKS TO WATCH
LG DISPLAY
The world's No.2 flat panel maker reported late Thursday its quarterly profit more than doubled from a year ago, but said weaker demand in the second half of this year may affect sales.
KEPCO
The state utility said late Thursday the government has allowed the National Pension Service to increase its stake in Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) to 5 percent.
SK TELECOM
South Korea's top mobile phone operator said late Thursday it would buy back 201.9 billion won ($168 million) worth of shares.
POSCO
The world's No.3 steelmaker plans to increase its self-sufficiency of raw materials from 20 percent to over 50 percent by 2014, the steelmaker's head of strategy and planning Choi Jong-tae said in an interview with local paper.
POSCO plans to buy stakes in a total of seven coal mines and five iron ore mines.
v
(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) ($1=1213.8 Won) Keywords: MARKETS KOREA STOCKS/ (jungyoun.park@reuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters Messaging; jungyoun.park.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'A solid set of U.S. earnings will boost sentiment in Seoul and shares will probably start off positively,' said Choi Kwang-hyeok, a market analyst at Hanwha Securities.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 0.76 percent at 1,735.53 points on Thursday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2208 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1093.67 2.25% 24.080 USD/JPY 87.02 -0.01% -0.010
10-YR US TSY YLD 2.9317 -
0.000 SPOT GOLD 1194.25 -0.09% -1.100 US CRUDE 79.12 -0.23% -0.180 DOW JONES 10322.30 1.99% 201.77 ASIA ADRS 120.00 2.76% 3.22
MARKET SUMMARY *Earnings lift Wall St, but Amazon.com plunges *Oil jumps above $78 on Mexican Gulf storm fears *Euro rallies on strong data; stress tests loom *Treasuries retreat;stocks rally pares safety bid
STOCKS TO WATCH
LG DISPLAY
The world's No.2 flat panel maker reported late Thursday its quarterly profit more than doubled from a year ago, but said weaker demand in the second half of this year may affect sales.
KEPCO
The state utility said late Thursday the government has allowed the National Pension Service to increase its stake in Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) to 5 percent.
SK TELECOM
South Korea's top mobile phone operator said late Thursday it would buy back 201.9 billion won ($168 million) worth of shares.
POSCO
The world's No.3 steelmaker plans to increase its self-sufficiency of raw materials from 20 percent to over 50 percent by 2014, the steelmaker's head of strategy and planning Choi Jong-tae said in an interview with local paper.
POSCO plans to buy stakes in a total of seven coal mines and five iron ore mines.
v
(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) ($1=1213.8 Won) Keywords: MARKETS KOREA STOCKS/ (jungyoun.park@reuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters Messaging; jungyoun.park.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.