Seoul shares rise; Samsung Elec up on buyback talk

*Samsung Elec rises on share buyback talk

*Carmakers climb ahead of Hyundai Motor earnings on Thursday

*LG Innotek Co. Ltd has strong first trading day

(Updates to midday)

SEOUL, July 24 (Reuters) - Seoul shares advanced on Thursday,
with sentiment lifted by falling oil prices and rescue plans for
troubled U.S. mortgage lenders, while Samsung Electronics rose on
talk the firm was poised to announce a share buyback.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index .KS11 was up 1.88
percent to 1,621.63 points as of 0152 GMT, the highest intraday
level since July 2.

Foreign investors net bought 96 billion won ($95.14 million)
worth of South Korean shares, heading for their first buying
session since June 5.

"Rapidly easing oil prices and hopes of rescue plans for U.S.
mortgage lenders are lifting shares today. We are seeing a big
relief rally," said Y.S. Rhoo, a market analyst at Hyundai
Securities.

"Short-covering by foreigners after their massive
short-selling is contributing to net foreign buying," said Kim
Joon-kie, a market analyst at SK Securities.

Foreign investors have offloaded 9 trillion won ($8.92
billion) worth of shares in their 33-session selling streak.

Shares in Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) rose 3.4 percent to
607,000 won on talk that the world's No.1 memory chip maker would
announce share buyback plans with its scheduled quarterly results
Friday.

"There is a good chance that Samsung Elec will unveil share
buyback plans tomorrow, as their shares have suffered steep falls
during the recent bearish run," said Suh Do-won, an analyst at
Hanwha Securities.

Shares in Samsung, the world's leading LCD display maker and
No.2 mobile phone handset manufacturer, had fallen more than 20
percent since mid-May as of Wednesday's closing.

"The buyback size will likely be around 1 trillion won," Suh
added.

World No. 2 memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS)
was trading 0.65 percent higher at 23,400 won after losing as
much as 1 percent after announcing Thursday that it had decided
to suspend production at its U.S. plant by the end of September
[ID:nSEO10204].

But shares in LG Electronics (066570.KS) jumped after
Whirlpool Corp (WHR.N), its U.S. peer and the world's biggest
appliance maker, reported higher-than-expected earnings and its
shares rallied overnight.

LG Elec shares were up 5.5 percent to 115,000 won.

Meanwhile electronic parts maker LG Innotek (011070.KS),
which debuted on the Seoul market on Thursday, was trading at
43,300 won, about 6.4 percent higher than its initial public
offering price of 40,500 won.

Financials continued to gain after U.S. banks advanced
overnight on hopes U.S. lawmakers would approve a rescue plan for
mortgage lenders such as Fannie Mae FNM.N and Freddie Mac
FRE.N.

Shinhan Financial Group (055550.KS) rose 1.75 percent to
46,400 won and Hana Financial Group (086790.KS) gained 2.35
percent to 39,200 won.

Shares in Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), South Korea's top auto
maker rose 2.77 percent to 74,300 won ahead of its second-quarter
earnings results due Thursday. Hyundai Motor is expected to
report a small rise in quarterly profits thanks to higher sales
and a weak currency.[ID:nSEO349828]

Hyundai's gains also boosted smaller carmakers, with Kia
Motors (000270.KS) climbing 2.14 percent to 11,950 won and
Ssangyong Motor (003620.KS) up 4.28 percent to 3,165 won.

Airlines rose after U.S. crude CLc1 fell to around $124 a
barrel, easing cost burdens on airlines and alleviating worries
about a potential fall in demand for flights.

Korean Air Line (003490.KS) went up 0.94 percent to 48,250
won and Asiana Airlines (020560.KS) gained 2.35 percent to 5,230
won.