SEOUL, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Seoul stocks are expected to gain
on Thursday, led by exporters such as LG Electronics <066570.KS>
after surprisingly strong U.S. retail sales soothed fears over a
recession in the United States, South Korea's No.2 export market.
Chip makers led by Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> could also
rally, after Applied Materials <AMAT.O> forecast strong orders
for chip-making equipment, boosting semiconductor shares in Wall
Street.
An unexpected rise in U.S. retail sales during January
boosted hopes the United States might avoid a recession despite
the pressure that a weakening housing market is putting on
consumers' pocketbooks. [ID:nN13334844]
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index <.KS11> ended down 0.7
percent at 1,631.78 points on Wednesday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2233 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 <.SPX> 1367.21 1.36% 18.350
USD/JPY <JPY=> 108.23 -0.07% -0.080
10-YR US TSY YLD <US10YT=RR> 3.7359 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD <XAU=> 904.8 -0.14% -1.300
US CRUDE <CLc1> 93.34 0.60% 0.560
DOW JONES <.DJI> 12552.24 1.45% 178.83
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKETS SUMMARY
*U.S. stocks rise as retail sales soothe economy fears
[ID:nN13625111]
*Oil steady near $93, Venezuela spat supports [ID:nT144109]
*Dollar rallies to 1-mo high vs yen on retail data
[ID:nN13311017]
*Treasuries pushed mostly lower in late stock surge
[ID:nN13595326]
STOCKS TO WATCH
- Korean Air
Korean Air Co <003490.KS> will purchase an additional three
A380 aircraft from Airbus <EAD.PA> on top of five jets it had
earlier agreed to buy from the European aerospace firm, a company
official said on Wednesday. [ID:nSEO315451]
- KT&G
KT&G Corp <033780.KS>, South Korea's top tobacco maker, said
on Wednesday it plans to invest 156.7 billion won ($165.8
million) in a cigarette plant in Russia. [ID:nSEO224668]
- Ssangyong Motor
Ssangyong Motor <003620.KS> said late on Wednesday its
fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to 5.2 billion won from 130.6
billion won loss a year earlier. [ID:nSEF000101]
(Reporting by Kim Soyoung; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
(([email protected]; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters Messaging:
[email protected]))
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