(Updates to mid-morning)
SEOUL, April 17 (Reuters) - Seoul stocks rose on Thursday,
led by technology shares such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS),
after a batch of solid U.S. earnings on Wednesday, soothing
concerns that a weak U.S. economy would crimp corporate profits.
Chipmakers Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor
(000660.KS) rose after earnings from U.S. technology firms such
as IBM (IBM.N) and Intel (INTC.O) reassured investors after a
string of disappointments last week.
Samsung rose 2 percent to 664,000 won and Hynix gained 2.7
percent to 28,550 won, with Hynix also boosted by speculation
chemical and finance focused Hanwa Group could look to bid for a
large stake in Hynix, talk which Hanwa shot down.
Analysts said little synergy was expected for Hanwha if the
company were indeed interested in acquiring Hynix as reported, as
it has little business ties in technology sectors.
"I do not see a clear synergy in this tie-up. Hanwha may
certainly become bigger in terms of the size, but it could find
better M&A targets that would bring synergy to its current
business portfolio," said Kim Yong-june, an analyst at Kyobo
Securities.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index was up 1.33 percent to
1,781.87 points by 0133 GMT, tracking a results-fuelled rally on
Wall Street where credit market worries were further allayed by
strong results from banks JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
"The fact that U.S. earnings did not come in as bad as many
feared gave such relief to investors," said Kim Joon-kie, a
market analyst at SK Securities.
"The expectations of a business-friendly stance by the new
administration is also adding to the positive mood," he added.
CHIP UNCERTAINTY
Samsung's gains came despite continued uncertainties about
the memory chip market outlook, with a Samsung Electronics
executive saying on Wednesday that it sees continued difficulty
in the DRAM memory chip market this year, and is unlikely to
raise DRAM prices before the end of May.[ID:nWEN4980]
"It is true that the memory chip market is still beleaguered,
but the view is memory chip prices have hit the bottom," said Kim
Young-june, at Kyobo Securities.
"And prices of key DRAM and NAND flash chips have recently
risen," said Jay Kim, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.
When the recovery comes, Samsung Electronics will likely
become one of the front runners in the market making a faster
recovery than other rivals, analysts said.
LG Electronics (066570.KS), the world's No.5 mobile handset
maker rose 4.15 percent to 138,000 won after reporting strong
results on Wednesday and on expectations fiscal 2008 performance
will continue to be solid thanks to its handset division.
Financials also rose across the board major U.S. banks
including JPMorgan Chase reported firm first-quarter results,
soothing investor who had counted on the big banks to handle the
credit crisis better than many rivals.
Kookmin Bank 060000.KS rose 2.29 percent to 67,000 won and
Shinhan Financial Group (055550.KS) gained 0.9 percent to 55,900
won.
(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
