Seoul shares seen steady; techs may gain

SEOUL, April 11 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may trade in a
tight range after recent gains, but technology shares may lift
the main index on solid earnings outlooks, and after their Wall
Street peers rallied on a brokerage upgrade of chipmakers.

Chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and
Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) may continue their rally,
following their Japanese rival Elpida's announcement on
Thursday that it would charge module makers up to 10 percent
more for its DRAM chips in the first half of April.
[ID:nT65405]

Shares sensitive to oil prices, such as Korean Air Line
(003490.KS) and Asiana Airlines (020560.KS), may also gain
after oil slipped from record highs on Thursday.

Oil prices slipped after top exporter Saudi Arabia said
markets were amply supplied despite falling U.S. inventories.
[ID:nSP93881]
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2228 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1360.55 0.45% 6.060
USD/JPY JPY= 101.76 0.02% 0.020
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.5526 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 928.8 0.04% 0.400
US CRUDE CLc1 109.67 -0.40% -0.390
DOW JONES .DJI 12581.98 0.44% 54.72
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKETS SUMMARY *Technology, retail stocks fuel Wall Street
rally [ID:nN10372606] *Oil slips from record, Saudi says
supplies ample [ID:nSP93881] *Dollar rises from record lows vs
euro, eyes ECB [ID:nN10334883] *Treasuries fall as stocks surge
outpaces economy [ID:nN10320150]

STOCKS TO WATCH

POSCO (005490.KS)

POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, is set to
report its first-quarter earnings today. Its January-March net
profit is estimated to be around 934 billion won ($956.8
million), according to a poll of nine analysts by Reuters
Estimates, on 5.8 trillion won in sales.

That would be down 4.9 percent from a year ago on weak
sales of stainless steel products, but up 31 percent on the
previous quarter, partly helped by price increases in February.
[ID:nSEO180195]

LG Telecom Co Ltd 032640.KQ

South Korea's third-largest mobile service operator said on
Thursday it has been told by the Korea Exchange that it
satisfied all necessary conditions for listing on the main
KOSPI index from the junior Kosdaq.

LG Display (034220.KS)

The South Korean flat screen maker reported a strong
first-quarter net profit on Thursday, after a loss a year ago,
as a booming market for thinner, sleeker TVs boosted panel
demand amid tight supplies.

The world's No. 2 maker of large-sized liquid crystal
displays (LCDs) made a 717 billion won ($735.1 million) net
profit in the January-March period, against a 169 billion won
loss a year earlier and a 760 billion won net profit in the
previous quarter.

The company is set for even better results in the second
quarter as the upcoming Beijing Olympics will continue to fuel
demand for thinner TVs, investors said.

"LCD demand is exploding ahead of the Beijing Olympics and
is likely to remain solid this year," said Chang In-whan, chief
executive and fund manager at KTB Asset Management.
[ID:nSEO169222]
($1=976.1 Won)
(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Valerie Lee)