South Korean shares rise after China unveiled policy steps, Wall Street gains

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KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers

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Korean won strengthens against dollar

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South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

SEOUL, - Round-up of South Korean financial markets: ** South Korean shares rose on Monday after China pledged more policy steps to revive consumption and after Wall Street's gains. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose. ** The benchmark KOSPI was up 36.85 points, or 1.44%, at 2,603.21 as of 03:24 GMT. ** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 5.48% and peer SK Hynix gained 0.61%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.15%. ** Hyundai Motor shed 0.45% and sister automaker Kia Corp lost 0.40%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 0.72% and down 0.23%, respectively. ** China's State Council unveiled on Sunday what it called a "special action plan" to boost domestic consumption, featuring measures including increasing residents' income and establishing a childcare subsidy scheme. ** U.S. equities followed European stocks higher on Friday, angling to end a bumpy week on a positive note, although safe-haven gold hit a record high with investors still showing some signs of anxiety about the economic impact of tariffs. ** Of the total 944 traded issues, 480 shares advanced, while 392 declined. ** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 564.5 billion won on the main board on Monday. ** The won was quoted at 1,446.2 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.47% higher than its previous close at 1,453.0. ** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,447.1 per dollar, up 0.2% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,444.6. ** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.06 point to 106.63. ** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.8 basis points to 2.605%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.6 basis points to 2.829%.

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