Seoul shares end 1.7 pct higher; banks, techs rise

* LG Display, KB Financial help fuel markets

* Korean Air underperforms after Q2 results

* N.Korea issues rise after release of South Korean worker

(Updates to close)

By Jungyoun Park

SEOUL, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Seoul shares rose on Friday with
technology and banking issues including LG Display (034220.KS)
and KB Financial Group (105560.KS) fueling gains, and shipping
issues climbing on the Baltic Dry Index's .BADI advance.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index .KS11 (KOSPI)
finished up 1.71 percent at 1,591.41 points.

"Shares are being helped by the broader positive market
atmosphere in the United States, and we are seeing steeper gains
as markets have recovered losses from programme selling at the
last minute in the previous session on options expiry," said Kim
Young-june, a market analyst at SK Securities.

"Positive growth data from Europe overnight helped sentiment
further," Kim added.

Data showed on Thursday an unexpected rise in second-quarter
GDP in Germnay and France, pillars of the euro zone economy.
[ID:nLD498855]

Shares in LG Display (034220.KS) advanced 3.33 percent after
Nomura upgraded the liquid crystal display (LCD) maker to "Buy"
from "Reduce."

The LCD industry's utilisation ratio would be capped at under
90 percent until December due to an ongoing glass shortage
exacerbated by a recent earthquake in Japan, Nomura analyst James
Kim said in a note dated Friday.

Near 3 percent gains in the Baltic Dry Index .BADI boosted
both shipping and shipbuilding firms, sending Hanjin Shipping
(000700.KS) 2.45 percent higher and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine
Engineering (042660.KS) up 2.04 percent.

North Korea's release of a South Korean worker
[ID:nSP374290], was positive for firms with North Korea ties, but
its impact on broader market was limited as Seoul markets had
learned to shrug off news about the reclusive state, according to
Kim Seong-bong, a market analyst at Samsung Securities.

Watchmaker Romanson Co Ltd (026040.KQ), which has a
production unit in the Kaesong industrial park in the North,
ended up 1.31 percent, and Hyundai Merchant Marine Corp
(011200.KS), the parent firm of North Korea tour operator Hyundai
Asan, rose 2.91 percent.

But shares in Korean Air (003490.KS) underperformed, edging
up a mere 0.44 percent after South Korea's top air carrier posted
on Friday a swing to net profit in the second quarter after six
consecutive quarterly losses, but its earnings were significantly
weaker than the market consensus. [ID:nSEL000743]

Banking issues rose after their U.S. peers' rally overnight,
which sent the S&P 500 financial sector .GSPF 1.96 percent
higher.

Shares in KB Financial rose 2.66 percent and Shinhan
Financial Group (055550.KS) advanced 4.95 percent.