Seoul shares flat on slowdown worries, Hynix gains
(Updates to mid-morning)
SEOUL, April 10 (Reuters) - Seoul stocks were flat Thursday midmorning, recouping much of a 1 percent early fall on global economic growth worries, with chip makers such as Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) up on hopes of a pricing turnaround.
Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, rose 2.42 percent to 27,500 won, after its Japanese rival Elpida said on Wednesday it would charge module makers up to 10 percent more for DRAM chips in the first half of April.[ID:nT65405]
World No.1 memory chip maker Samsung Electronics (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) added 1.4 percent.
Gains in financial shares after president Lee Myung-bak's Grand National Party landed a narrow majority in Wednesday's parliamentary elections also underpinned the market, initially made nervous by a gloomy IMF report.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index was up 0.2 percent at 1,758.29 points after slipping to 1,735.78 after the International Monetary Fund cut global growth forecasts and said the United States was heading for recession this year.
"Resistance is formed at around 1,750 to 1,800, and we saw some big sell orders earlier in the morning in that range," said So Jang-ho, a market analyst at Samsung Securities.
"But the rebound occurred when retail money flowed in after the index breached below 1,750," he added.
Retail investors bought 206 billion won worth of shares listed on the main board by 0142 GMT.
News that the Bank of Korea held base rates unchanged at 5.0 percent was widely anticipated and had little impact.
BANKS IN FAVOUR
Financials rose after Wednesday's elections which fuelled hopes the new administration has won the clout it needs to speed efforts to reform the financial sector.
Top South Korean lender Kookmin Bank (060000.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rose 3.41 percent to 63,700 won and Shinhan Financial Group (055550.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) gained 3.01 percent to 54,300 won.
Major exporter shares such as LG Electronics (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) were hurt by the IMF comments, which had followed a sustained winning streak in the KOSPI. LG Electronics lost 0.75 percent to 132,000 won percent to won, but has gained nearly 50 percent since mid-February.
LG Display (034220.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which is scheduled to report first quarter earnings after the market's close on Thursday, was another faller, down 1.6 percent to 46,150 won.
LG Display's net profit is estimated to be around 715.5 billion won, according to 8 analysts polled by Reuters. This will mark a rebound from a 169 billion won net loss from a year ago and compares with the record 760 billion won earned in October-December quarter.[ID:nSEO168651]
"LG's solid earnings got factored in during the recent rally, and the price has reached a point where investors feel tempted to realize profits," said John Park, an analyst at Daishin.
News 13.2-percent shareholder Philips Electronics (PHG.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) would transfer its struggling North American TV business to Japan's Funai Electric (6839.OS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) also put pressure on the shares.
Steelmakers such as POSCO (005490.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) continued to fall after recent hikes in raw material prices. POSCO declined 2.0 percent 489,000 won. Dongbu Steel (016380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 1.68 percen to 11,700 won. POSCO is due to report quarterly results on Friday.
(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
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