Seoul shares end firm; banks, STX Enpaco advance

* KOSPI rises 0.78 pct

* STX Enpaco rallies on its first trading day

* Airlines gain on fare hike hopes

(Updates to close)

By Jungyoun Park

SEOUL, May 15 (Reuters) - Seoul stocks ended higher on
Friday, led by banks including KB Financial (105560.KS), while
STX Enpaco (071970.KS) jumped on its first trading day, but
declines in Hynix (000660.KS) shares weighed on the index.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)
finished up 0.78 percent at 1,391.73 points.

"Gains are limited as foreign buying has slowed. Economic
concerns have flared up again following weak U.S. retail data,
and investors are taking a more cautious approach ahead of key
U.S. data, including those concerning housing markets, early next
week," said Won Jong-hyuck, a market analyst at SK Securities.

"Markets have lost steam after weeks of gains, and the main
index will probably move within a boxed range until we have
clearer macro-economic picture," Won added.

Gains were led by banks tracking their U.S. peers and the S&P
financial index .GSPF, which rose 3.98 percent. KB Financial
Group (105560.KS) gained 4.24 percent and Woori Finance Holdings
(053000.KS) went up 6.73 percent.

STX Enpaco (071970.KS), a ship engine-parts making unit of
STX Group, ended at 29,900 won per share on its first trading
day, up by the daily limit of 15 percent from its opening price
of 26,000 won.

Its opening price was also double the initial public offering
price of 13,000 won.

The company said in a filing to the Korea Exchange that it
planned to achieve 27 percent year-on-year growth in annual sales
to 1.3 trillion won ($1.03 billion), and 29 percent growth in net
profit to 66 billion won, for fiscal 2009.

"STX Enpaco will have no problem achieving those numbers. Its
main customer, STX Engine (077970.KS), is doing very well," said
Lee Ji-hoon, an analyst at SK Securities.

STX Engine on Friday said first-quarter net profit jumped 459
percent to 20.2 billion won from a year earlier.

LG Electronics (066570.KS) finished up 1.84 percent as its
earnings outlook for the second quarter continued to strengthen.

"We are hearing that shipments of its handsets and household
electronics such as televisions have been quite strong this
quarter," said Chung Sung-ho, an analyst at KB Investment &
Securities, pointing to strong demand from China spurred by
government stimulus measures.

But shares in Hyundai Corp (011760.KS) declined 3.79 percent
on news that 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 shares in South Korean air carriers rose after a
media report on Friday that Korean Air Line (003490.KS) and
Asiana Airlines (020560.KS) will raise airfares on long-haul
international routes from June, the first time since 2006.

Fares on U.S. routes would rise by 10-15 percent and fares on
European and Australian routes would be increased by 5-10
percent, according to MoneyToday.

"Raising fares is the best way for both companies to improve
their finances. For Korean Air, it will generate about 7.5
billion won ($5.92 million) more in sales, or 3 percent of its
total sales figure, at no additional cost," said Yang Ji-hwan, an
analyst at Daishin Securities.

Korean Airline advanced 3.17 percent and Asiana Airlines
gained 3.15 percent.