S.Korea shares seen up on easing credit worries

SEOUL, March 14 (Reuters) - Seoul shares are expected to rally on Friday after Standard & Poor's said that the end of subprime write-downs was in sight, soothing some of the credit crunch nerves that hit the market hard on on Thursday.

The ratings agency said write-downs for large financial institutions on subprime debt are likely past the halfway mark, albeit still possibly standing at $285 billion.[ID:nN13302797]

Gains are likely to be led by large financials, such as Shinhan Financial Group (055550.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) and Hana Financial Group (086790.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), potentially recouping losses from the previous session.

However advances are expected to be limited as the perception that more write-downs could be in store outside the subprime sector hold steady.

Oil jumped to a new high of $111 a barrel on Thursday, keeping pressure up on energy price sentive shares.

Meanwhile, trade in KOSPI 200 options hit its biggest in 5 years on Thursday, with 30.9 million contracts, after volatility rose in the foreign exchange market in line with the weakening of local currency won.

In addition to the currency volatility, a slide in Chinese stocks and maturity of options attributed to a high volume of options trading, the Korea Exchange said on Thursday. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2235 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 .SPX 1315.48 0.51% 6.710 USD/JPY <JPY=> 100.56 0.08% 0.080 10-YR US TSY YLD <US10YT=RR> 3.5261 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD <XAU=> 994.3 -0.06% -0.600 US CRUDE CLc1 109.94 -0.35% -0.390 DOW JONES .DJI 12145.74 0.29% 35.50 -------------------------------------------------------------

MARKETS SUMMARY *Wall St ends up as S&P view eases credit fear [ID:nN13334402] *COMMODITIES-Gold hits record $1,000, oil at $111 [ID:nL13661597] *Dollar sinks below 100 yen, hits new low vs euro [ID:nN13583059] *Treasuries fall as house bailout lifts stock [ID:nN13329667] STOCK TO WATCH