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Korea Hot Stocks-Banks, SK Broadband, SK Holdings
SEOUL, Oct 15 - The main KOSPI <.KS11> index was down 2.55 percent at 1,332.82 points as of 0440 GMT on Wednesday, after Wall Street slid overnight on worries over the economy.
The index opened 2.14 percent lower at 1,338.46 points.
Stocks on the move include:
**BANKS TUMBLE ON OUTLOOK WORRIES, NEGATIVE BROKERAGE NOTE**
Shares in South Korean banks fell across the board on deepening worries over the health of the sector and after UBS made bearish comments on the country's banking sector.
"We believe Korea's financial sector is vulnerable to funding. We are concerned the global bankig crisis has tipped the balance in Korea's financial sector toward a negative chain-reaction," UBS saud in its note dated Oct. 14.
"The cost, availability of rolling-over $400 billion to $425 billion of foreign exchange debt is restricted," UBS said.
UBS downgraded its rating, target price and earnings estimates on major South Korean banking groups, including KB Financial Group <105560.KS>, Shinhan Financial Group <055550.KS>, Hana Financial Group <086790.KS> and Woori Finance Holdings <053000.KS>.
Shares in KB Financial were down 4.9 percent and Hana Financial had dropped 7.1 percent. Woori Finance Holdings was down 4.89 percent and Shinhan Financial Group had slid 4.17 percent as of 0438 GMT.
0438 GMT
**SK BROADBAND GAINS ON HOPES FOR EARNINGS RECOVERY**
Shares in SK Broadband Co Ltd <033630.KQ>, formerly hanarotelecom inc, gained 2.59 percent to 5,540 won on hopes the South Korean No.2 broadband firm could turn around next year's earnings.
"The number of new subscribers grew in September, supported by a combined product with SK Telecom..Investors think that this growth brightens the outlook on future earnings," said Stan Jung, an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities.
The country's top mobile carrier, SK Telecom <017670.KS>, took control of hanarotelecom in April.
The junior Kosdaq <.KQ11> market was down 1.37 percent.
0209 GMT
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**SK HOLDINGS UP ON PLANS TO RAISE STAKE IN ENERGY UNIT**
Shares in energy to construction group SK Holdings <003600.KS> rose on Wednesday after it said on Tuesday it would spend up to 180 billion won buying shares in refiner SK Energy <096770.KS> to secure stable ownership of the unit.
"Refiners' share prices have gotten very cheap on the latest worries about third quarter earnings and foreign debt-related news," said Kim Jeong-hwan, an analyst at Daewoo Securities.
"It's a good time to buy shares in refiners cheaply."
Analysts also said SK Holdings shares were making a modest recovery from their recent sharp losses.
Shares in SK Holdings had fallen 15 percent since late September as of Tuesday's closing.
SK Holdings was up 0.51 percent versus the broader market's <.KS11> 2.43 percent drop. (Reporting by Park Jung-youn, Park Ju-min; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
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