Seoul shares seen firm; techs, energy issues eyed

SEOUL, June 10 (Reuters) - Seoul shares are likely to open
firm on Wednesday, with technology issues likely to rise after
their U.S. peers' gained, while energy issues may be boosted by
continued gains in crude oil prices CLc1.

"Trading might be volatile today ahead of futures and
options expiry later this week. There are concerns about rising
bond yields, but this should not hurt the market's longer-term
upward momentum," said Kim Young-june, a market analyst at SK
Securities.

"Following the market's gains since early March, the index
is taking a breather. Also latest economic data tell us that
economies have stabilized, but investors are looking for signs
of a turnaround," Kim added.

Rising oil prices may lift energy issues including SK
Energy (096770.KS), but could weigh on transport stocks such as
Korean Air Line (003490.KS).

POSCO (005490.KS) may also be in focus after the world's
No.4 steelmaker warned on Tuesday that the current quarter will
be the most challenging and it was seeking to curb iron ore
prices by 33 percent, along with global miner BHP Billiton
(BHP.AX). [ID:nSEO128407]

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended
down 1.54 percent at 1,371.84 points on Tuesday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2245 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 942.43 0.35% 3.290
USD/JPY JPY= 97.38 -0.02% -0.020
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.8619 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 953.9 0.02% 0.150
US CRUDE CLc1 70.49 0.69% 0.480
DOW JONES .DJI 8763.06 -0.02% -1.43
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 112.73 0.45% 0.50
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKET SUMMARY *U.S. clears 10 big banks to repay bailout
funds [ID:nN09364348] *Oil hits 7-month high over $70 on demand

[ID:nSP387179] *US dollar falls; bonds rise on value
play [ID:nN09482758] *US Treasury bonds surge on strong
auction [ID:nN09392390]

STOCKS TO WATCH

SAMSUNG SDI (006400.KS)

Samsung SDI is set to supply lithium laptop batteries to
Apple Inc (AAPL.O), according to a local Maeil Business
Newspaper.

KUMHO INVESTMENT BANKS (010050.KS)

A consortium including a New York investment firm and Kumho
Investment Bank agreed to buy American International Group
Inc's (AIG.N) New York headquarters, the broker, CB Richard
Ellis (CBG.N) said on Tuesday. [ID:nN09391877]

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS (005930.KS)

Saudi mobile telephone firm Etihad Etisalat 7020.SE
(Mobily) said on Tuesday it had awarded Samsung Electronics a
$100 million deal to expand the WiMax network of its subsidiary
Bayanat al-Oula. [ID:nL91037833]

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)