Seoul shares turn lower as techs fall; banks up

* KOSPI gives up opening gains, retreats 1 pct

* Declines in blue chip techs weigh

* Banks rise; KEB outperforms on positive brokerage note

(Updates to mid-morning)

By Jungyoun Park

SEOUL, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Seoul shares gave up opening rises and turned lower on Monday as key technology issues including LG Electronics (066570.KS) retreated, but advances in banking issues such as Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS) lent support.

As of 0137 GMT, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index .KS11 (KOSPI) was down 1.01 percent at 1,635.07 points.

"Foreign buying has weakened visibly after the Bank of Korea's comments, which pointed to the possibility that South Korea's exit strategy may be approaching sooner than expected," said Lee Kyung-soo, a market analyst at Shinyoung Securities.

"We are seeing gold prices continue to rise, and that indicates that investors' appetite for risk could be cooling a bit," Lee said, adding that fund redemptions by domestic investors following the markets' gains were pressuring markets further.

As of 0140 GMT, foreign investors were buyers of a net 28.8 billion won ($23.63 million) worth of stocks, picking up shares for a seventh consecutive session, but domestic institutions offloaded 73.7 billion won.

Losses were led by key technology issues, which had fueled markets' rises in recent weeks.

Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), the world's No.1 memory chip maker, fell 2.14 percent and LG Electronics, the world's No.3 handset maker, lost 3.11 percent.

But some banking issues lent support, with Woori Finance Holdings (053000.KS) rising 0.61 percent and Hana Financial Group (086790.KS) going up 0.78 percent.

"Strengthening economic hopes amid the latest solid macroeconomic data are sending banks higher," said Ku Yong-uk, a market analyst at Daewoo Securities. But Ku added the rate at which banks' earnings recovered would be slower in the second half than that seen in the second quarter.

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) led its peers, advancing 3.39 percent to 12,200 won, after JPMorgan upgraded its rating on KEB to "overweight" from "neutral" and boosted its target price on the bank's shares by 25 percent to 15,000 won.

Retail issues continued to outperform, with Lotte Shopping (023530.KS) climbing 1.94 percent to 314,500 won after Macquarie lifted its target price on the share to 380,000 won from the previous 322,000 won.

Shinsegae Co. Ltd (004170.KS) gained 0.35 percent.

Shares in Poongsan (103140.KS), a copper products maker, turned lower after Shanghai copper futures slid by their 5 percent limit on Monday, as investors worried about thin demand. [ID:nMAN394490]

Shares in Poongsan lost 1.88 percent after gaining 2.3 percent earlier in the session.

($1=1218.5 Won)

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)