Seoul shares seen firmer;Hyundai Corp, Heavy, eyed

SEOUL, May 15 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may open firmer on
Friday after a positive finish on Wall Street with continued
gains in crude CLc1 likely to help energy issues, but weak U.S.
job data may weigh on sentiment.

"Following the market's falls yesterday in options
expiry-related volatile trading, shares are likely to be more
stable today, helped by U.S. gains," said Kwak Joong-bo, a market
analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities.

"Weak U.S. job data may weigh. The index will probably move
in a boxed range around 1,400 points until we have a clearer
macroeconomic picture," Kwak said.

Hyundai Heavy Industries (009540.KS) and Hyundai Corp
(011760.KS) may draw attention after banks scrapped an auction to
sell a majority stake in the trading and resource-development
company to Hyundai Heavy, the final bidder, due to a price
gap.[ID:nSEO253494]

Meanwhile technology issues including Samsung Electronics
(005930.KS) and Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) may be boosted by
solid gains in the U.S. semiconductor index .SOXX.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended
down 2.37 percent to 1,380.95 points on Thursday, its lowest
close since April 30.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2244 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 893.07 1.04% 9.150
USD/JPY JPY= 96.12 0.21% 0.200
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.0921 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 925.65 0.03% 0.300
US CRUDE CLc1 58.55 -0.12% -0.070
DOW JONES .DJI 8331.32 0.56% 46.43
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 104.86 0.63% 0.66
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKET SUMMARY
*Wall Street boosted by return to banks, tech [ID:nN14512612]
*Oil demand to post sharpest fall since 1981 -IEA [ID:nLE886831]
*US dollar rises vs yen as stocks rebound [ID:nN14509315]
*Treasuries rise on weakness in job market [ID:nN14487583]

STOCKS TO WATCH

STX ENPACO (071970.KS)

The South Korean maker of engine parts is floating its shares
on the main KOSPI index on Friday. Its IPO offer price was 13,000
won per share.

RETAIL ISSUES

Sales at top South Korean department stores rose again in
April, adding to a batch of domestic data spurring hopes of an
early recovery for Asia's fourth largest-economy. [ID:nSEO331486]

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)