Seoul shares seen steady; ECB coy on intervention

SEOUL, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Seoul shares are expected to start
little changed on Tuesday, with investors awaiting further clues
about any action from the European Central Bank (ECB) to ease
the region's fiscal crisis.
An ECB spokesman downplayed reports from German magazine Der
Spiegel that the bank was planning to set a cap on bond yields
above which it would buy government debt issued by member
states.
"The Korean market has pulled itself out of deeply
undervalued territory, but there is little momentum left to
drive further gains," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Woori
Investment & Securities.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ticked
0.01 percent lower to close at 1,946.31 points on Monday.
Expectations that the ECB will step in to ease crippling
borrowing costs in Spain and Italy have taken the KOSPI to a
string of three-month highs in August, until signs of fatigue
brought the rally to a halt since last Friday.

-------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @21:47 GMT----------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 1,418.13 -0% -0.030
USD/JPY 79.45 0.06% 0.050
10-YR US TSY YLD 1.811 -- -0.003
SPOT GOLD $1,620.28 0.29% 4.690
US CRUDE $95.97 0.00% 0.000
DOW JONES 13271.64 -0.03% -3.56
ASIA ADRS 120.40 -0.03% -0.04
-------------------------------------------------------------
>Wall St flat after rally;Apple biggest company ever
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>Euro rises,ECB uncertainty keeps investors cautious
>Oil lower in choppy trading; Euro zone issues weigh

**HYUNDAI MOTOR CO **

Hyundai Motor's labour union in South Korea plans to
stage a partial strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, a union
spokesman said, stepping up the pressure on the automaker in
ongoing annual wage talks.

**KOREA LIFE INSURANCE CO LTD **

Korea Life Insurance Co Ltd is unlikely to pursue
its planned purchase of Dutch insurer ING's Southeast
Asian life insurance operations, a spokesman for the Korean
firm's parent Hanwha Group said on Monday.

(Reporting by Joonhee Yu; Editing by Richard Pullin)