SEOUL, April 13 (Reuters) - Seoul shares may rise on Monday
but gains could be limited following their latest rally and as a
long weekend on Wall Street gives the market little direction,
with auto issues likely to be in the spotlight on government
support measures.
"I'd say shares still have upward momentum, though caution
about corporate results exists. Investors are waiting in
particular for U.S. bank results, which Wells Fargo (WFC.N)
kicked off on a positive note," said Lee Jae-mahn, a market
analyst at Tong Yang Securities.
"Stocks have risen too much and too fast, and gains may be
limited in that regard," Lee added.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended
up 1.50 percent at 1,336.04 points on Friday, posting its fifth
consecutive week of gains, the longest weekly winning streak
since June, 2007.
Auto issues including Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) may be in the
spotlight after news South Korea plans to spend 500 billion won
($376.5 million) to help the country's car industry through the
global downturn. [ID:nSEO26773]
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2243 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 856.56 3.81% 31.400
USD/JPY JPY= 100.34 -0.04% -0.040
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.9225 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 884.15 0.40% 3.500
US CRUDE CLc1 52.02 -0.42% -0.220
DOW JONES .DJI 8083.38 3.14% 246.27
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 98.99 4.59% 4.34
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKET SUMMARY
*Asia stocks push towards 6-mth highs [ID:nT1655]
*World fuel use to dive by 2.4 million bpd-IEA [ID:nLA70157]
*Japan's record borrowing plan ups pressure on BOJ [ID:nT12543]
*Treasuries fall, rising stocks sap safe-haven bid
[ID:nN09298439]
STOCKS TO WATCH
POSCO (005490.KS)
The world's No.4 steelmaker posted a sharp drop in quarterly
profit to the lowest level in seven years on crumbling global
steel demand, and cut its 2009 output and sales targets by nearly
a fifth. [ID:nSEO193919]
POSCO also said it was in a preliminary deal with Rio Tinto
(RIO.AX) for a 20 percent discount in iron ore term prices, but
was looking for prices to go down even further. [ID:nSEO11216]
(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
