(Updates to mid-morning)
By Park Jung-youn
SEOUL, June 30 (Reuters) - Seoul shares opened easier on
Monday after oil prices hit yet another record high on Friday,
while persistent credit worries further hurt sentiment after a
top U.S. brokerage warned of more writedowns by Merrill Lynch.
Energy price-sensitive shares such as Korean Air Line
(003490.KS) and Asiana Airlines (020560.KS) were hit after U.S.
crude CLc1 hit a record near $143 a barrel on Friday, fuelling
anxiety about companies' costs and consumer sentiment.
Korean Air shed 1.96 percent to 49,900 won and Asiana
Airlines lost 2.12 percent to 5,540 won.
Meanwhile some financials such as Woori Finance Holdings
(053000.KS) and Samsung Securities (016360.KS) fell after Lehman
Brothers forecast Merrill Lynch MER.N would write down another
$5.4 billion in the second quarter, stoking fresh credit fears.
Woori Finance fell 1.78 percent to 16,600 won and Samsung
Securities went down 1.36 percent to 65,300 won.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index was down 0.50 percent
to 1,676.06 points as of 0944 GMT, up 9 percent from the
mid-March low of 1,537.53, but down 12 percent from mid-May high
of 1,901. The index is also down 9.5 percent on the month.
"Markets will continue to be on a downward trend unless
things improve in energy prices and U.S. credit market fronts,"
said Kim Joong-hyun, a market analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan
Securities.
"That means, we cannot rule out hitting the mid-March low in
the coming month," Kim added.
But shares in Dongwon F&B (049770.KS), a seafood arm of
Dongwon Group, rose 1.71 percent to 41,700 won after Dongwon said
on Monday it would buy StarKist seafood business from Del Monte
Foods Co (DLM.N) for $363 million.
Shares in SK Energy (096770.KS) climbed 2.18 percent to
117,000 won on expectations that its second quarter results will
come out solid on continued strength in refining margins despite
worries about a slowdown in demand for oil products amid record
high crude prices. Analysts said robust demand from emerging
markets in Asia kept margins strong.
"Also SK Energy's assets tied to its current exploration and
production activities have grown... more than its South Korean
peers," said Park Dae-yong, adding that positive news flows such
as that of the company's securing a stake in Vietnamese oil field
also helped the shares.
Local media reported on Monday South Korea's top refiner had
secured a 20 percent stake in a 6,600 square kilometres oil field
in Vietnam.
Samsung Heavy Industries Co (010140.KS) rose 0.8 percent to
37,850 won after the company said on Monday that it has won a
1.58 trillion won ($1.52 billion) order to build nine extra-large
container ships for a Middle Eastern company.
