Seoul shares seen flat; earnings worry to weigh

SEOUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may trade in a tight
range on Tuesday, with optimism about the inauguration of U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama likely to lend some help, but
ongoing worries about corporate earnings weighing on sentiment.

"The market's direction is really cloudy today. Expectations
over Obama's inauguration will be one positive factor, but
concerns ahead of major earnings results this week, both in
South Korea and in the United States, will keep investors
cautious," said Park Sun-wook, a market analyst at Korea
Investment & Securities.

"Falls overnight in European markets, and particularly the
recent losses seen in both U.S. and European financials, will
weigh on Seoul stocks as well," Park added.

The FTSE .FTSE closed down 0.9 percent on Monday, led by
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), which tumbled 67 percent.

Analysts said the main KOSPI index would continue to test
its 1,100 support level, which is also its 60-day moving
average.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished up
1.36 percent at 1,150.65 points on Monday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2244 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 850.12 0.76% 6.380
USD/JPY JPY= 90.54 -0.12% -0.110
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.3405 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 833.25 -0.16% -1.300
US CRUDE CLc1 34.4 -5.78% -2.110
DOW JONES .DJI 8281.22 0.84% 68.73
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 90.01 1.45% 1.29
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKETS SUMMARY
*Oil falls towards $34 on has deal, Gaza ceasefire[nSP387382]
*Euro, stg tumble vs dollar on banking sector woes[nLJ728966]
*JGBs track Treasuries down, 30-yr auction in focus[nT299075]

STOCKS TO WATCH

HYUNDAI MOTOR (005380.KS)

South Korea's top automaker said on Monday two vice chairmen
had stepped down.[ID:nSEO313906]

HANKOOK TIRE (000240.KS)

The world's seventh-largest tire maker on Monday reported a
quarterly net loss of 46.7 billion won ($34.41 million).

(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)