*
KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
*
Korean won strengthens against dollar
*
South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
SEOUL, March 17 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares rose on Friday, tracking Wall
Street's strong finish overnight and as gains in chipmakers
outweighed losses in battery manufacturers.
** The Korean won strengthened, while the benchmark bond
yield rose.
** The benchmark KOSPI was up 10.96 points, or
0.46%, at 2,388.87, as of 0139 GMT, after rising as much as
1.15%.
** The KOSPI was down 0.2% for the week, on track for a
second straight weekly drop.
** Large U.S. banks injected $30 billion in deposits into
First Republic Bank on Thursday, swooping in to rescue
the lender caught up in a widening crisis triggered by the
collapse of two other mid-sized U.S. lenders over the past week.
** "Still, investor sentiment remained subdued with the
European Central Bank's 50 basis-point rate hike ahead of the
U.S. Fed policy meeting," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at
Mirae Asset Securities.
** Technology giant Samsung Electronics rose
1.67% and peer SK Hynix jumped 5.44%.
** Battery maker LG Energy Solution dropped
2.60% and parent LG Chem was down 3.97%, while peers
Samsung SDI and SK Innovation lost 3.79%
and 1.16%, respectively. Automakers also inched down.
** Of the total 930 issues traded, 659 shares advanced.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 131.5 billion
won ($100.81 million).
** The won was quoted at 1,305.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , 0.61% higher than its previous close at 1,313.0.
** The currency was up 1.5% for the week, set to post its
best weekly performance in nine.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds fell 0.13 point to 104.33.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield
rose by 5.5 basis points to 3.447%, while the benchmark 10-year
yield rose by 3.7 basis points to 3.429%.
($1 = 1,304.4800 won)
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
