South Korean Shares Rally on Chip Gains

KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers Korean won strengthens against dollar South Korea benchmark bond yield falls SEOUL, Sept 21 (Reuters) — Round-up of South Korean financial markets: * South Korean shares rose on Monday, led by chipmakers after a rally in US semiconductor stocks in the previous session and upbeat domestic export data. * The benchmark KOSPI was up 101.16 points, or 1.47%, at 6,995.39, as of 0134 GMT. * Wall Street closed a volatile week on a muted note on Friday as benchmark US Treasury yields topped 5%, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.8%..N * South Korea's exports for the first 20 days of this month hit a record high on a surge in chip sales, customs data showed. * Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 4.02% and peer SK Hynix gained 0.92%, leading the benchmark index higher. * Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 2.75%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 1.10% and 1.64%, respectively. * Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 0.77%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 0.14%. * Of the total 909 traded issues, 310 shares advanced, while 549 declined. * Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 113 billion won ($81.64 million). * The won was quoted at 1,384.9 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.04% higher than its previous close at 1,385.5. * In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds lost 0.05 point to 102.24. * The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.0 basis point to 4.037%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 0.5 basis point to 4.455%. ($1 = 1,384.1000 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com;)