*
KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
*
Korean won jumps 1% against dollar
*
South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
SEOUL, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
** South Korean shares rose on Thursday, led by online
service providers, as investors found U.S. Federal Reserve's
policy meeting outcome dovish.
** The Korean won hit its highest level in nearly ten
months, while the benchmark bond yield fell.
** The benchmark KOSPI was up 11.17 points, or
0.40%, at 2,460.97 as of 0209 GMT. It rose as much as 1.49% in
early trade.
** The Fed said it had turned a key corner in the fight
against high inflation, but that "victory" would still require
its benchmark overnight interest rate to be increased further
and remain elevated at least through 2023.
** "Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments were perceived
dovish, but he certainly left a room for hawkish aspects as
well," said Kim Seok-hwan, analyst at Mirae Asset Securities,
who said investors were taking profits from a gap-start.
** Search engine Naver rose 3.16% and instant
messenger Kakao jumped 3.54%, helped by a surge in
Meta Platforms on Wall Street overnight.
** Technology giant Samsung Electronics rose
1.78%, peer SK Hynix gained 1.86%, and battery maker
LG Energy Solution advanced 0.19%.
** Of the total 934 issues traded, 553 shares gained.
** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 159.4 billion
won ($130.81 million).
** The won was quoted 1.03% higher at 1,218.7 per dollar on
the onshore settlement platform , after hitting the
highest level since April 5, 2022 at 1,216.4.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds rose 0.12 point to 105.03.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield
fell by 3.1 basis points to 3.232%, while the benchmark 10-year
yield fell by 1.3 basis points to 3.226%.
($1 = 1,218.5900 won)
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; editing by Uttaresh.V)
