Seoul shares flat; brokerages, steelmakers firm

(Updates to mid-morning)

SEOUL, May 23 (Reuters) - Seoul shares traded flat Friday,
with losses by airliners and refiners on high energy prices and a
weak won currency balancing gains by brokerages led by Kyobo
Securities (030610.KS), which jumped on talk of its sale.

Shares in Kyobo Securities (030610.KS) rose their daily limit
of 15 percent to 17,800 won after local media reports on Friday
that parent Kyobo Life Insurance Co Ltd had relaunched the sale
of its majority stake in the brokerage. The Korea Exchange asked
Kyobo Securities to clarify the rumours.

SK Securities (001510.KS), a medium-sized brokerage, was also
up 6.73 percent to 2,940.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index was down 0.01
percent to 1,835.27 points as of 0136 GMT, holding steady after
four consecutive losing sessions that pushed the main index down
by 2.8 percent as of Thursday's closing.

Inflation worries cast a shadow over the market as oil prices
remained above $130 per barrel and prospects for a central bank
interest cut that could stimulate the domestic economy dimmed.

"Investors are still jittery about energy price hikes as
they're uncertain about how far prices could go up. And energy
prices are fueling inflation, which in turn affects consumer
spending and the central bank's rate decisions," said Bae
Sung-young, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.

"As long as oil prices keep hovering at around $130, shares
will continue to move sluggishly," Bae added.

Airliners such Korean Air Line (003490.KS) and Asiana
Airlines (020560.KS) continued to slide on persistent high energy
prices, and after Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) issued profit warnings
on Thursday that sent its shares tumbling more than 10
percent.[ID:nSP195922]

Korean Air fell 1.02 percent to 48,600 won and Asiana
Airlines declined 0.7 percent to 5,670 won. Korean Air has shed 9
percent on the week to a more than one-year low while Asiana
Airlines has fallen nearly 7 percent.

Steelmakers such as POSCO (005490.KS) and Hyundai Steel
(004020.KS) recouped some of their steep losses on the week, on
expectations demand would remain solid despite a slowing global
economy.

POSCO had fallen for three straight sessions bringing its
share prices 6.6 percent lower as of Thursday's closing, while
Hyundai Steel fell for four sessions losing 7 percent.

"We expect steelmakers to raise their prices within the
second half of this year as demand from emerging markets will
remain robust," said Kim Gyung-jung, an analyst at Samsung
Securities.

POSCO shares were also boosted by the announcement on
Thursday that POSCO Engineering & Construction planned a share
sale worth a potential 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion). POSCO owns
89.5 percent of POSCO Engineering. [ID:nSEO139972]

Shares in the world's No.4 steelmaker rose 1.81 percent to
563,000 won, and Hyundai Steel climbed 2.77 percent to 85,300
won.

(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)