Seoul shares seen contained ahead of ECB meeting

SEOUL, Sept 5 (Reuters) - South Korean shares were
expected to be constrained on Wednesday with investors worried
about the health of the global economy and waiting to see what
steps the European Central Bank takes this week to alleviate
Europe's debt problems.
"I don't recall anyone having had good economic indicators
lately. Everyone knows the global economy is in a trough. The
policies that will be announced to tackle the problems will be
much more important," said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at KDB
Daewoo Securities in Seoul.
U.S. stocks initially slipped after manufacturing in the
U.S. shrank at its sharpest pace in more than three years in
August, but trimmed losses on late gains by Apple Inc.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended down 0.3
percent at 1,907.13 points on Tuesday.

---------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @21:56 GMT-------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 1,404.94 -0.12% -1.640
USD/JPY 78.42 0.05% 0.040
10-YR US TSY YLD 1.574 -- 0.025
SPOT GOLD $1,694.14 0.00% 0.000
US CRUDE $95.61 0.33% 0.310
DOW JONES 13035.94 -0.42% -54.90
ASIA ADRS 115.84 -1.24% -1.46
-------------------------------------------------------------
>Wall St cuts losses late on Apple strength
>US bond yields edge up as ECB in focus
>Euro retreats on concerns about ECB bond buys
>Oil falls on economic concerns, weak U.S. data

---STOCKS TO WATCH---
**LG ELECTRONICS **
LG Electronics fell more than 2 percent on
Tuesday after local media reported the company would issue 300
billion won ($265 million) of bonds.

**HANJIN SHIPPING CO LTD, HYUNDAI MERCHANT MARINE CO
LTD **
Domestic media on Wednesday reported the two major shipping
companies would cut back on their Asia-Europe routes in response
to weaker demand in Europe.
($1 = 1,133.2000 Korean won)

(Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by John Mair)