* KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
* Korean won strengthens against dollar
* South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
SEOUL, March 7 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares rose on Thursday led by battery makers' stocks, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks hinted at interest rate cuts in coming months.
** The won gained, while the benchmark bond yield fell.
** The benchmark KOSPI rose 9.57 points, or 0.36%, to 2,651.06 by 0058 GMT, after falling for two consecutive sessions.
** Powell said on Wednesday rate cuts were still likely in coming months but only if warranted by further evidence of falling inflation.
** All three major stock indexes on Wall Street rose overnight.
** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.14% and peer SK Hynix gained 0.31%.
** Battery makers led the gains on the benchmark index, with LG Energy Solution up 1.03%, Samsung SDI up 5.76% and SK Innovation up 0.52%.
** Hyundai Motor added 0.80% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 0.31%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 0.42% and 2.70%, respectively.
** Of the total 927 traded issues, 285 shares advanced, but 582 declined.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 87.0 billion won ($65.47 million) on the main board.
** The won was quoted at 1,329.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.37% higher than its previous close at 1,334.5.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.01 point to 104.72.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.6 basis point to 3.320%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.3 basis points to 3.368%. ($1 = 1,328.7600 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
