Seoul shares seen steady after losses, easier oil

SEOUL, July 7 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may trade steady on
Monday after seven consecutive losing sessions, their longest
downward run in five years, with easier oil lending the market
some support.

"Eyes are on oil price moves, and while prices have
stabilised a bit, we cannot rule out further gains as the summer
driving season is ahead," said Kim Seung-han, a market analyst at
CJ Investment & Securities.

"Investors will probably hold back until they see how the
U.S. market reacts when it opens for the week," Kim said, adding
that shares would likely move in a tight range.

However oil's retreat from a record near $146 a barrel to
$143.85 on Friday will likely ease some pressure on energy
price-sensitive issues such as Korean Air Line (003490.KS) and
Asiana Airlines (020560.KS).

But Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) may struggle after its union
said on Saturday unionised workers would walk off the job for
four hours this week to push for a pay increase. [ID:nSEO306097]

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed down
1.78 percent to 1,577.94 points on Friday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2255 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1262.9 0.11% 1.380
USD/JPY JPY= 106.76 -0.02% -0.020
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.9866 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 931 -0.14% -1.300
US CRUDE CLc1 144.33 -0.66% -0.950
DOW JONES .DJI 11288.54 0.65% 73.03
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 145.47 0.57% 0.82
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKETS SUMMARY
*World stocks fall on financial shares, oil drops [ID:nN04362038]
*Oil now below $144, Iran responds to nuclear offer
[ID:nSIN37299]
*Won leads Asia FX down on inflation jitters [ID:nSP334882]
*South Korean bonds have worst week in 2 months [ID:nSEO364907]

STOCKS TO WATCH

IL JIN ELECTRIC CO LTD (015860.KS)

South Korea's Il Jin Electric said on Friday that it had won
a $250 million order to build electricity facilities from
Australia's Energex. [ID:nSEL000164]

CARMAKERS

Hyundai Motor, South Korea's top auto maker, said on Sunday
it had cut its local sales target for this year by 6 percent. But
affiliate Kia Motors (000270.KS), the country's No.2 car maker,
said it had raised its domestic sales target by 11 percent.
[ID:nSEO76501]

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