Seoul shares rise, caution caps gains

SEOUL: Seoul shares inched up on Friday, but gains were capped by retail selling as investors remained wary ahead of a key speech from US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 0.44 percent to 1,772.42 points as of 0202 GMT after opening lower.

"Bernanke should show something amid dampened investor sentiment and an so-called operation twist to extend the maturity of treasury holdings is a possible option," said Hong Soon-pyo, a market strategist at Daishin Securities.

Analysts said lingering concerns over global economic prospects kept trading volume thin.

Retail investors sold into a second straight session, offloading 122 billion won ($112.2 million) worth of stocks, while institutions continued buying.

Foreign investors also extended selling into a second consecutive session, offloading 1.8 billion won.

LG Chem gained 3 percent after its holding firm LG Corp agreed to jointly develop electric cars with US automaker General Motors Co .

Hyundai Motor and Hynix Semiconductor climbed 1.6 percent and 3.2 percent respectively, helped by foreign buying.

Polysilicon maker OCI surged 4.4 percent as investors bet on stocks seen as cheap due to the recent market plunge.

Shares in Imarketkorea Inc , Samsung Group's procurement unit, jumped more than 10 percent after media reports that Interpark and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co were among the potential bidders for Samsung's controlling stake in the firm. Samsung's 58.7 percent stake in Imarketkorea is worth around 369 billion won ($339.3 million) at current share prices. Samsung set up Imarketkorea in 2000 to provide goods and maintenance services for business clients and is now seeking to sell the stake. Goldman Sachs , which is overseeing the sale process, declined to comment. The Korea Exchange asked online shopping mall operator Interpark to clarify the reports by Friday afternoon. Shares in Interpark were up 4.4 percent as of 0228 GMT.

The junior Kosdaq market was up 0.2 percent.

Copyright Reuters, 2011