KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
Korean won weakens against dollar
South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
SEOUL, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares rose for a seventh straight session on Wednesday, as chip stocks followed their U.S. peers higher. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.
** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was up 45.68 points, or 1.74%, at 2,672.49, as of 0155 GMT.
** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS rose 2.81% and peer SK Hynix 000660.KS gained 4.05%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS climbed 5.42%.
** Shares of chipmaker Intel INTC.O jumped 10.1% overnight. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co 2330.TW and Broadcom AVGO.O are eyeing potential deals that would break Intel into two, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
** Hyundai Motor 005380.KS added 1.75% and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS gained 1.38%, while search engine Naver 035420.KS and instant messenger Kakao 035720.KS were up 0.22% and up 1.41%, respectively.
** Of the total 939 traded issues, 542 shares advanced, while 333 declined.
** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 147.7 billion won on the main board on Wednesday.
** The won was quoted at 1,440.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.07% lower than its previous close at 1,439.5.
** In offshore trading, the won KRW= was quoted at 1,440.8 per dollar, flat on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract KRW1MNDFOR= was quoted at 1,438.2.
** The KOSPI has risen 11.38% so far this year, and gained 9.5% in the previous 30 trading sessions.
** The won has gained 2.2% against the dollar so far this year.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 fell 0.01 point to 106.58.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR rose by 0.3 basis point to 2.647%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR rose by 3.6 basis points to 2.893%.
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
((Cynthia.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; 822 3704 5655; Reuters Messaging: cynthia.kim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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