Seoul shares seen down, caution before data

SEOUL, April 1 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may retreat on
Tuesday after a string of gains in the past week as investors
are likely to be cautious before a slew of U.S. and South
Korean data this week.

"In light of sharp gains in the past week, the market may
take a breather, especially since important economic data such
as the U.S. ISM (manufacturing index) and job data are coming
out later this week," said Yang Kyeung-shik, a market analyst
at Hana Daetoo Securities.

South Korea's March exports and consumer price data are due
on Tuesday.

The main share index has advanced nearly 4 percent over the
past week, led by technology shares, boosted by hopes of solid
first-quarter earnings.

Holding companies such as Hanwha Corp (000880.KS) and CJ
Corp (001040.KS) may gain on talks of regulatory changes, which
could make it easier for industrial holding companies to own
majority stakes in financial firms.

----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2242 GMT
------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1322.7 0.57% 7.480
USD/JPY JPY= 99.89 0.02% 0.020
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.4208 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 915.8 0.05% 0.500
US CRUDE CLc1 101.6 0.02% 0.020
DOW JONES .DJI 12262.89 0.38% 46.49
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKETS SUMMARY
*Wall Street up on data, regulatory plan [ID:nN31433320]
*Oil plunges $4 as Iraq restores output [ID:nSYD295760]
*Dollar logs weakest quarter vs euro since 2004
[ID:nN31427569]
*US Treasury regulation plan sparks debate [ID:nN31424892]

STOCKS TO WATCH

LIG Non-Life Insurance (002550.KS)

Casualty insurer's February net earnings jumped 121 percent
year-on-year to 5.3 billion won ($5.35 million), the company
said in filings to the Korea Exchange on Monday.

($1=990.0 Won)
(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Alan Raybould)