Seoul shares firm; utilities up after tariff hike

* KOSPI trades firm, up 0.32 pct

* State-run utilities rise after power tariff hike

* Doosan Heavy falls after share sale news

(Updates to mid-morning)

By Jungyoun Park

SEOUL, June 26 (Reuters) - Seoul shares rose on Friday after
gains overnight on Wall Street, with state-run utilities
including Korea Electric Power Corp (015760.KS) rising after a
power tariff hike, but Doosan Heavy (034020.KS) fell after share
sale news.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up
0.32 percent at 1,397.24 points as of 0217 GMT.

"Shares are making modest gains after U.S. shares' strong
rebound, as markets had already reflected U.S. positives during
previous sessions' robust gains," said Kwak Joong-bo, a market
analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities.

"Markets still lack compelling factors and confidence to
reach the earlier highs, and they will likely move in a boxed
range at the current level," Kwak said, adding however that
technology issues outperformed on continued earnings hopes.

But Bank of Korea data showing that South Korea saw a
seasonally adjusted current account surplus of $3.12 billion in
May, down from a revised $6.47 billion surplus in April, weighed
on sentiment. [ID:nSEL000666]

Shares in Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co tumbled
4.38 percent after it sold some of its own shares.

Early on Friday, online news outlet MoneyToday reported that
Doosan Heavy had unloaded 3 million shares prior to the market's
opening.

A Doosan Heavy spokesman confirmed the sale, without
specifying a reason.

"Doosan probably sold shares at a discount, and in such cases
there is bound to be quick profit-taking as investors who bought
the discounted shares can realise immediate profits by doing so,"
said Cho In-karp, a market analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan
Securities.

Meanwhile shares in state-run utilities Korea Electric Power
Corp (KEPCO) and Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) (036460.KS) climbed after
South Korea's energy ministry said on Friday that South Korea
will raise electricity prices by 3.9 percent on average this
week, the first increase since November. [ID:nSEL00066]

KEPCO surged 2.38 percent KOGAS rose 3.69 percent.

Elsewhere LG Electronics (066570.KS), a consumer electronics
giant and LG Display (034220.KS), the world's No. 2 liquid
crystal display (LCD) maker, outperformed on hope for improved
earnings and LCD market outlook.

Shares in LG Electronics were up 2.14 percent, helped further
by news late on Thursday that the company has launched liquid
crystal display (LCD) televisions that use light-emitting diodes
(LED) as a light source, The company also said it was aiming to
sell as many as 5 million units in 2010.[ID:nSEO187223]

Shares in LG Display were up 0.15 percent.

Steelmakers continued to rise on the back of recent gains in
China steel prices.

Chinese spot steel prices rose nearly 3 percent this week to
a four-month high, as expectations that steady gains in raw
material prices would keep prices high led to some restocking
activity among traders. [ID:nSEO63793]

POSCO (005490.KS), the world's No.4 steelmaker, was up 2.28
percent and Dongbu Steel (016380.KS) advanced 5.71 percent.

(Editing by Ken Wills)