SEOUL, May 26 (Reuters) - Seoul shares are set to
lose more ground on Monday after oil prices hit yet another
record on Friday, hammering Wall Street shares to round out their
worst week in three months.
Airliners and manufacturers such as Korean Air Line
(003490.KS) and and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) may retreat after
U.S. crude CLc1 hit a new record over $135 before settling at
$132.19 on Friday, fanning worries about consumer spending and
profits of companies that rely heavily on fuel imports.
Airliners will likely be hit hardest after higher oil prices
pushed the American Stock Exchange index of airline shares .XAL
down another 4.2 percent on Friday and 20 percent on the
week.[ID:nN23337857]
However brokerages may post gains on hopes for merger and
acquisition activity in the sector, after South Korea's Kyobo
Securities (030610.KS) confirmed on Friday after the closing bell
that its top shareholder, unlisted Kyobo Life, was considering
selling its stake in the brokerage after mid-June.[ID:nSEO185053]
"Factors that emerged over the weekend, including oil's rise
and the U.S. market's fall, are pointing to a weak start for the
Seoul market today," said Lee Woo-hyun, a market analyst at Kyobo
Securities.
"The main index may fall to 1,800 as sentiment has turned
fragile, with no clear factors to strengthen it in sight," Lee
added.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed down 0.41
percent to 1,827.94 points, falling for a fifth-consecutive
session and making its losses on the week 3 percent.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2252 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1375.93 -1.32% -18.420
USD/JPY JPY= 103.37 0.08% 0.080
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.8501 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 923.5 -0.08% -0.700
US CRUDE CLc1 131.79 -0.30% -0.400
DOW JONES .DJI 12479.63 -1.16% -145.99
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 161.09 -1.90% -3.12
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKETS SUMMARY
*Record oil fuels Wall St.'s worst week in 3 months
[ID:nN23337857]
*Oil rises on weak dollar, supply worries [ID:nSP38179]
*Dollar eyes sharpest weekly decline in 2 months [ID:nN23281030]
*Treasuries regain safe-have bid on stocks' fall [ID:nN23273849]
STOCKS TO WATCH
Hyundai Heavy Industries (009540.KS)
The world's top shipbuilder said on Friday that its April
sales revenues jumped 25.5 percent year-on-year to 1.58 trillion
won ($1.51 billion).
Separately the company on Friday denied rumours that it was
interested in acquiring a stake in Hyundai Securities.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (042660.KS)
Daewoo said on Friday it had secured an order to build two
drill ships worth 1.44 trillion won ($1.38 billion) from the
Americas.[ID:nSEL000101]
Banks
The government will start offloading its stakes in Woori
Finance Holdings (053000.KS) and Industrial Bank of Korea
(024110.KS) this year to accelerate a government privatisation
drive, a top regulator said on Friday.[ID:nSEO130525]
(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
