Seoul shares seen up on China hopes, eyes on won

SEOUL, March 5 (Reuters) - Seoul shares are set to rise on
Thursday after solid gains on Wall Street, with news that an
additional Chinese stimulus package is in the works likely to
boost sentiment and eyes on the won KRW= currency.

"Conditions are favorable today. China hopes and the South
Korean government's show of determination to stem the won's
further weakness will certainly help," said Hong In-young, a
market analyst at HMC Investment & Securities.

An improvement in China's manufacturing sector and hopes for
further economic stimulus plans by its government lifted investor
sentiment worldwide on Wednesday. [ID:nSP488798]

Meanwhile South Korea said early on Thursday its policy was
to intervene when the currency market "overshoots."
[ID:nSEO86129]

"However gains will likely be short-lived as fundamentals
remain weak. Also as Seoul markets reflected much of the
China-related expectations in the previous session, rises will be
limited," Hong added.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended
up 3.29 percent at 1,059.26 points on Wednesday.

Shipbuilders and steelmaking issues such as POSCO (005490.KS)
and Hyundai Heavy Industries (009540.KS) may rise on hopes
China's increased infrastructure spending will boost demand for
their products.

Meanwhile KT Corp (030200.KS) may be in the spotlight after
Moody's revised its outlook on the company to stable from
positive. [ID:nWLA8896]
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2248 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 712.87 2.38% 16.540
USD/JPY JPY= 99.1 0.11% 0.110
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.9763 -- 0.090
SPOT GOLD XAU= 904.8 -0.23% -2.100
US CRUDE CLc1 45.38 0.00% 3.730
DOW JONES .DJI 6875.84 2.23% 149.82
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 78.97 4.13% 3.13
-------------------------------------------------------------

MARKET SUMMARY
*Wall St 5-day rout ends on China hopes, oil surge
[ID:nN04255127]
*Oil gains nearly 9 pct on U.S. crude stocks drop [ID:nSP408417]
*Dollar climbs vs yen, buoyed by China optimism [ID:nN04576802]
*Treasuries fall as rising stocks curb safe haven [ID:nN04548289]

STOCKS TO WATCH

KOGAS (036460.KS)

The state-run importer and wholesaler of liquified natural
gas has signed a memorandum of understanding with Woodside
Petroleum Ltd (WPL.AX) to jointly develop gas fields in
Australia, South Korea's energy ministry said on Wednesday.
[ID:nSEO41587]

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)