SEOUL, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Seoul shares are set to fall on
Thursday after a slump overnight on Wall Street where economic
fears persist, with banks and builders likely to be under
pressure on deepening concerns about their financial health.
Financials may come under pressure after the U.S. Treasury
backed away from using a $700 billion bailout fund to cleanse
bank balance sheets of bad mortgage debt, to focus instead on
buying stakes in banks to encourage them to increase lending.
[ID:nN12267400]
"Banks and construction firms are the sectors that investors
are most bearish about amid the current financial market crisis.
Sentiment towards shipbuilders and machinery issues is also weak,
though it helps that they tend to have solid cash reserves," said
Lim Dong-min, a market analyst at Dongbu Securities.
Shinsung Engineering & Construction 001970.KS, a medium
sized builder on Wednesday said it had sought court protection to
avoid bankruptcy, stoking worries about the financial health of
builders, to which local banks lend heavily.
Meanwhile technology issues including Samsung Electronics
(005930.KS) and Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) may fall after
U.S. microchip giant Intel Corp (INTC.O) on Wednesday issued a
warning about its fourth quarter revenue, citing weak demand
around the globe and in all market segments. [ID:nN12312939]
"The KOSPI will have a hard time rising above the 1,200
level. Investors see drops in corporate profits, while some
companies may have severe liquidity problems," Lim added.
But oil's fall to $56 per barrel may help sectors that are
sensitive to energy prices, such as transporters and retailers.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended down 0.43
percent at 1,123.86 points on Wednesday after a volatile day.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2234 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 852.3 -5.19% -46.650
USD/JPY JPY= 94.93 -0.03% -0.030
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.6503 -- -0.110
SPOT GOLD XAU= 709.75 -0.20% -1.400
US CRUDE CLc1 55.51 -6.44% -3.830
DOW JONES .DJI 8282.66 -4.73% -411.30
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 86.14 -4.53% -4.09
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKETS SUMMARY
*Wall St slumps on deepening economic anxiety [ID:nN12311004]
*Oil down 5 pct as forecasters cut demand outlook [ID:nSP373294]
*Yen rallies as stocks sell off; pound tumbles [ID:nN12308235]
*T.bills up as stock skid;1-mo bill rate near zero[ID:nN12305138]
STOCKS TO WATCH
LG DISPLAY (034220.KS)
LG Display, Sharp Corp 6753 and Chungwa Picture Tubes Ltd
have agreed to plead guilty and pay $585 million in fines for
fixing prices of liquid crystal display used in a wide variety of
electronics, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
