Seoul shares up

Seoul shares ended slightly firmer on Monday led by shipbuilders and auto issues, but gains were limited on caution before earnings results and profit-taking after the main indexs latest run of rises. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended up 0.17 percent at 1,338.26 points.
"The main index has risen 30 percent since March, and 50 percent from last Octobers low. This recovery happed rather too fast. Some people are moving to book profits on worries the main indexs current level may be its short-term peak," said Won Sang-pil, a market analyst at Tong Yang Securities.
"Investors are divided over whether shares still have room to rise, or whether we need to see clearer signs of a recovery in the US banking sector and the global economy," said Lee Sun-yeob, a market analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities.
Hynix Semiconductor Inc ended 0.74 percent lower, giving up earlier gains of as much as 4.8 percent on a report Japan had decided to scrap a special tariff on chips made by the South Korean firm, which the Japanese government later confirmed. Hynix Semiconductor also said it was hoping to post a profit before the end of the year, adding that it intended to aggressively expand its market share in Japan to around 20 percent from the current 15 percent level. Meanwhile shipbuilders advanced on the back of fresh hopes for new orders.
"There are expectations for new orders from places like Brazil that will mostly be for offshore plants or specialised vessel types," said Cho Yong-jun, an analyst at Shingyoung Securities. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering rose 4.26 percent and Samsung Heavy advanced 4.1 percent. Elsewhere news that ship engine parts maker STX Enpaco may raise up to 29.9 billion won ($22.37 million) in May in a Seoul initial public offering sent STX Engine, its majority shareholder, up 3.96 percent.
Auto issues also jumped after news South Korea plans to spend 500 billion won ($376.5 million) to help the car industry through the global downturn. Hyundai Motor ended up 2.16 percent and Kia Motors climbed 4.75 percent. Shares in online game developer and publisher NCSoft Corp jumped 9.65 percent on news its new massively multimedia online role playing game (MMORPG) "Aion", already a success in South Korea, had met an enthusiastic initial reception in China.
NCSoft introduced a public trial service of the $17 million game in China last week and now plans to launch it commercially there far sooner than had been anticipated. "The market estimates that about 500,000 people participated in the trial service in China, which is quite a big number. Trial services rarely attract more than 100,000 people," Samsung Securities said in a report on Monday.
Elsewhere, Interpark advanced 2.94 percent after media said a deal on the companys sale of its stake in online retailer Gmarket Inc to eBay Inc had been finalised. An Interpark spokeswoman said she had no knowledge of the matter. Institutional investors sold a net 522.3 billion won worth of shares and foreign investors bought a net 400 billion won. Retail investors picked up a net 115.8 billion won.
Advancers led decliners 577 to 262, with 46 finishing unchanged. Trading volume stood at 807.5 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won, compared with 918.4 million shares worth 9.06 trillion won on Friday. The KOSPI 200 June futures index fell 1.50 points to 172.40 and the KOSPI 200 spot index ended 0.32 point lower at 171.69. The junior Kosdaq market advanced 2.83 percent to end at 507.23 points.