*
KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
*
Korean won slightly down against dollar
*
South Korea benchmark bond yield inches up
SEOUL, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
** South Korean shares rose more than 1% on Wednesday as
markets tracked global risk sentiment after U.S. Federal Reserve
Chair Jerome Powell's remarks, with online platform operators
buoyed by optimism around artificial intelligence (AI).
** The Korean won and the benchmark bond yield traded flat.
** The benchmark KOSPI index rose 27.50 points, or
1.12%, to 2,479.21 as of 0150 GMT.
** Friday's blockbuster jobs report showed why the battle
against inflation will "take quite a bit of time," Powell said
on Tuesday, acknowledging that rates may need to move higher
than expected if that sort of economic strength threatens the
Fed's progress in lowering inflation.
** "His remarks changed little from the monetary policy
meeting last week, offering quite a lot of what the market
wanted to hear from him," said Mirae Asset Securities' analyst
Kim Seok-hwan, especially noting his use of the phrase
"disinflation."
** Technology giant Samsung Electronics rose
1.62%, peer SK Hynix gained 2.31%, and battery maker
LG Energy Solution advanced 0.55%.
** Search engine Naver jumped more than 5%,
tracking AI-related stocks' gains on Wall Street overnight.
Instant messenger Kakao climbed more than 2%.
** Of the total 933 issues traded, 539 shares gained.
** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 202.1 billion
won ($160.98 million).
** The won was quoted at 1,255.8 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform , down 0.04%.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds fell 0.07 point to 104.66.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield
fell by 0.6 basis point to 3.330%, while the benchmark 10-year
yield rose by 1.0 basis point to 3.313%.
($1 = 1,255.4500 won)
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; editing by Uttaresh.V)
