S. Korea Stocks: Hyundai Motor, DC Chemical, LG Dacom, Samsung

By Kyung Bok Cho

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's Kospi index advanced 7.82, or 0.5 percent, to 1,501.74 as of 9:08 a.m. in Seoul.

The following are among the most-active stocks in South Korean markets.

Carmakers: Hyundai Motor Co. (005380 KS), South Korea's biggest carmaker, dropped 1,900 won, or 2.6 percent, to 71,000. Kia Motors Corp. (000270 KS), an affiliate, slid 100 won, or 0.7 percent, to 13,550.

Hyundai and Kia said yesterday they lost about 48 billion won ($44 million) in production due to strikes that day, the first of three planned days of stoppages.

Separately, Hyundai is recalling 65,000 Elantra sedans in the U.S. to replace a fuel pump that may lose pressure and degrade the engine's performance. The Elantra is the company's second-best selling vehicle in the country.

DC Chemical Co. (010060 KS), a maker of petrochemicals and solar-power materials, gained 10,000 won, or 3.5 percent, to 298,500. The company said it received a 488.2 billion won ($452 million) order for polysilicon from Swiss Wafers AG.

LG Dacom Corp. (015940 KS), which owns 45.4 percent of Internet service provider LG Powercom Corp., rose 600 won, or 3.1 percent, to 20,100. South Korea may sell state-owned Korea Electric Power Corp.'s 43.1 percent stake in LG Powercom, Maeil Business Newspaper reported. The government may sell the stake once the Internet service provider is listed, the newspaper said.

``There were many rumors of an LG Powercom listing in the past, but now more than ever it appears an IPO will really happen,'' Good Morning Shinhan Securities Co. said in a report. The news is ``positive'' for LG Dacom, the brokerage said.

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930 KS), Asia's biggest maker of chips and flat screens, lost 4,000 won, or 0.8 percent, to 526,000. Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation to ``equal- weight,'' from ``overweight,'' in a report. The brokerage said it expects a ``hard landing'' for liquid-crystal displays and that the dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, industry ``refuses to consolidate and improve.''

To contact the reporter for this story: Kyung Bok Cho in Seoul at kcho7@bloomberg.net