Seoul shares seen lower on U.S., bank worries

SEOUL, March 4 (Reuters) - Seoul shares are likely to open
lower on Wednesday after overnight falls on Wall Street as
worries about the U.S. financial system rattled investors, with
focus also on South Korea's beleaguered won currency.
"Sentiment is weak following losses in U.S. stocks. Also the
won will be closely followed as its latest rapid weakness is a
big concern," said Chung Seung-jae, a market analyst at Mirae
Asset Securities.
The South Korean won rose against the dollar on Tuesday as
the foreign exchange authorities were spotted selling dollars to
support the currency. [nSEO338951]
"But the government cannot intervene endlessly as there is
only a certain amount of foreign currency reserves...in the
short-term, the index could near the previous closing low about
950 points," Chung added.
Automakers including Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> and Kia Motors
<000270.KS> may be in the spotlight after posting firm growth in
their February U.S. sales, despite their peers posting dismal
figures.
Hyundai Motor posted an adjusted 2.6 percent year-on-year
rise in its U.S. sales last month, and Kia, 4.6 percent.
[nN03490012] [nN03497155]
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index <.KS11> (KOSPI) ended
up 0.66 percent at 1,025.57 points on Tuesday, after sliding to a
session low of 992.69 points, the lowest intraday level since
late November.

----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2245 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 <.SPX> 696.33 -0.64% -4.490
USD/JPY 98.23 0.08% 0.080
10-YR US TSY YLD 2.8862 -- 0.022
SPOT GOLD 914.15 -0.17% -1.550
US CRUDE 41.65 0.00% 1.500
DOW JONES <.DJI> 6726.02 -0.55% -37.27
ASIA ADRS <.BKAS> 75.84 1.21% 0.91
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKET SUMMARY
*Wall St pulled lower by banks, S&P below 700 [nN03501762]
*Oil rises nearly 4 pct on OPEC, stock bounce [nSP479558]
*Dollar gains as US bank woes bolster haven allure[nN03587971]
*Treasuries down on supply; weak stocks check losses
[nN03502528]
STOCKS TO WATCH
WOORI FINANCE HOLDINGS <053000.KS>
Australian investment bank Macquarie and South
Korea's Woori Bank, a banking unit of Woori Finance Holdings, are
planning to set up a $1 billion fund to invest in South Korea, an
official at the bank said on Tuesday. [nSEL000516]
(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)
((jungyoun.park@reuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters Messaging;
jungyoun.park.reuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS KOREA STOCKS

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS:
Pan-Asia........[STXNEWS/AS] Japan.......[.T] S.Korea...[.KS]
S.E. Asia.......[.SO] Hong Kong...[.HK] Taiwan....[.TW]
Australia/NZ....[.AX] India.......[.BO] China.....[.SS]
OTHER MARKETS:
Wall Street ....[.N] Gold.......[GOL/] Currency.[FRX/]
Eurostocks......[.EU] Oil .......[O/R] JP bonds..[JP/]
ADR Report .....[ADR/] LME metals.[MET/L] US bonds..[US/]
Stocks News US..[STXNEWS/US] Stocks News Europe [STXNEWS/EU]
DIARIES & DATA:
Asia earnings diary [ASIA/EQTY]
U.S. earnings diary [RESF/US] European diary [WEU/EQTY]
South Korea diary [KR/DIARY] Wall Street Week Ahead [.N/O]
Eurostocks Week Ahead [.EU/O]
TOP NEWS:
For top Asian company news, double click on: [nTOPEQA]
U.S. company news [TOP/EQU] European company news [TOP/EQE]
Forex news [TOP/FRX] Global Economy news [TOP/MACRO]
Technology news [TOP/TECH] Telecoms news [TOP/TELCO]
Media news [TOP/MEDIA] Banking news [TOP/FIN]
Politics/General news [TOP/G] Asia Macro data
A multimedia version of Reuters Top News is available at:
http://topnews.session.rservices.com
LIVE PRICES & DATA:
World Stocks <0#.INDEX> Currency rates
Dow Jones/NASDAQ <.DJI> <.IXIC> Nikkei <.N225>
FTSE 100 <.FTSE> Debt <0#USBMK=>
South Korean won LME price overview

(C) Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters
sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of
companies around the world.

nSEO327633
.KS