Seoul shares seen higher led by banks, airlines

SEOUL, July 24 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may advance on
Thursday after oil prices continued to slide, easing inflation
worries, and U.S. financials gained on hopes of rescue plans for
troubled mortgage lenders.

Transporters and manufacturers such as Korean Air Line
(003490.KS) and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) are set to gain after
U.S. crude CLc1 fell to around $124 a barrel, easing the cost
burden on airlines and pointing to some improvement in consumer
sentiment.

Financials such as Kookmin Bank 060000.KS may also gain
after U.S. financials advanced overnight on hopes U.S. lawmakers
will approve a rescue plan for mortgage lenders such as Fannie
Mae FNM.N and Freddie Mac FRE.N.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index .KS11 closed up 1.96
percent to 1,591.76 points on Wednesday, its highest close in
nearly three weeks.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2241 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1282.19 0.41% 5.190
USD/JPY JPY= 107.92 0.01% 0.010
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 4.1204 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 920.45 0.08% 0.700
US CRUDE CLc1 124.49 0.04% 0.060
DOW JONES .DJI 11632.38 0.26% 29.88
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 149.04 0.85% 1.25
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKET SUMMARY
*Wall St rises on oil drop, housing plan optimism [ID:nN23456000]
*Oil slips further amid worries over U.S. demand [ID:nN23297630]
*Dollar rises on oil drop, housing bill [ID:nN23390016]
*Treasuries slip as safety bids fade on stock gains
[ID:nN23447748]

STOCKS TO WATCH

HYUNDAI MOTOR (005380.KS)

Hyundai Motor is expected to report a small rise in quarterly
profits thanks to higher sales and a weak currency on
Thursday.[ID:nSEO349828]

KT CORP (030200.KS), KTF CO LTD 032390.KS

The head of fixed-line and broadband provider KT Corp has
said full integration with mobile service unit KTF would be
"desirable," a KT spokesman said on Wednesday.[ID:nSEO349139]

(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)