Seoul shares seen up; eyes on banks, steelmakers

SEOUL, June 12 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may rise on Friday
after overnight gains on Wall Street, with a set of solid U.S.
economic data likely to boost sentiment, while key exporters may
rise on the back of brewing earnings hopes.

"Shares will probably trade higher today. Now that futures
expiry has passed, uncertainty about the market has eased. Eyes
will be on whether foreign investors keep buying shares," said
Lee Jin-woo, a market analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

News that U.S. retail sales rose in May for the first time in
three months and the number of workers filing new claims for
jobless benefits last week hit a January low may support
sentiment.[ID:nN11493029]

"But as the index is nearing its year-high level, some
resistence is expected," Lee added.

Shinhan Financial Group (055550.KS) may be eyed after news a
regulator called on Shinhan Bank, the group's commercial banking
unit, to set aside an additional provisioning charge against
currency option contracts, which may be reflected in the current
quarter. [ID:nSEO277434]

Meanwhile oil's CLc1 continued rise may weigh on
transporters including Korean Air Line (003490.KS).

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)
finished up 0.32 percent at 1,419.39 points on Thursday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2246 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 944.89 0.61% 5.740
USD/JPY JPY= 97.67 0.04% 0.040
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.8622 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 954.65 0.07% 0.650
US CRUDE CLc1 72.34 -0.47% -0.340
DOW JONES .DJI 8770.92 0.37% 31.90
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 115.47 1.57% 1.78
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKET SUMMARY
*World stocks rally on recovery hopes, oil soars [ID:nN11369619]
*Oil climbs over $73 on hopes for rising demand [ID:nSIN191080]
*Dollar falls broadly as risk appetite increases [ID:nN11512032]
*Solid long bond Treasury fuels rally [ID:nN11219495]

STOCKS TO WATCH

STEELMAKERS

Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.T) and JFE (5411.T) have agreed
with BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) to cut fine iron ore prices by 33
percent, matching a benchmark deal reached with Rio Tinto
(RIO.AX). [ID:nSP476761]

BANKS

South Korean banks have chosen 33 companies for
restructuring, including 11 that face a cut-off in fresh loans,
the nation's financial watchdog said on Thursday. [ID:nSEO268407]

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)