* KOSPI rises 1 pct
* Memory chips gain on Elpida report
* Banks helped by Geithner comments
(Updates to mid-morning)
By Jungyoun Park
SEOUL, April 22 (Reuters) - Seoul shares rose on Wednesday
with technology issues including Hynix (000660.KS) leading gains,
and financials also helped by rallies in their U.S. peers on
comments by the U.S. Treasury Secretary.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up
1.01 percent at 1,350.37 points as of 0132 GMT.
"The index is facing resistance before the 1,350 point level
as shares are valued at 13 times their 12-month forward looking
price-earnings ratio. This is also the level at which pension
funds sell, and retail investors redeem their equity-type funds,"
said Suh Dong-pil, a market analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities.
Foreign investors were net buyers of 12.5 billion won ($9.26
million) worth of stocks. Institutions were sellers of a net 92
billion won and pension funds offloaded a net 20 billion won.
Shares in Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) jumped on Wednesday
after Japanese chip maker Elpida (6665.T) confirmed it was
planning to raise memory chip prices by as much as 50 percent
next month [ID:nT338964].
"We think this is too optimistic and look for a 33 percent
rise in the DRAM contract price this year," UBS said in a report
on Wednesday.
"We believe recent bullish statements from DRAM
companies...should be treated with caution, as many do not have a
strong track record of predicting price trends," UBS said.
Hynix jumped 5.17 percent and Samsung Elec (005930.KS), the
world's No.1 memory chip maker, gained 1.86 percent.
Financials including KB Financial Group (105560.KS) rose
following the S&P financial index's .GSPF 8.19 percent jump
after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner indicated most banks
have sufficient reserves to protect against possible losses.
[ID:nN21168975]
KB Financial Group climbed 2.41 percent and Woori Finance
Holdings (053000.KS) advanced 1.37 percent.
Elsewhere LG Telecom (032640.KS), the smallest of South
Korea's three mobile operators, traded 1.24 percent lower after
it said on Wednesday it would sell a $120 million floating rate
note (FRN) next week to repay maturing debt. [ID:nSEO125961]
($1=1349.2 Won)
(Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
