* KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers

* Korean won strengthens against U.S. dollar

* South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

* For the midday report, please click

SEOUL, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares ended higher on Wednesday, as chip heavyweights tracked overnight gains in their U.S. peers and investors sought riskier assets despite surging Omicron cases around the world. Both the Korean won and the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The benchmark KOSPI closed 9.45 points higher, or 0.32%, at 2,984.48, after Tuesday's 0.41% gain.

** Chip giants extended gains, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix adding 1.66% and 2.01%, respectively, on optimistic sector-wide outlook. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index had gained 3.35%.

** On the main board, foreigners purchased net 303.7 billion won ($254.63 million) worth of shares.

** Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced more federal vaccination and testing sites to tackle a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant, but reassured that those who are inoculated can gather for the holidays.

** The won ended at 1,192.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.08% higher than its previous close.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,192.7 per dollar, down 0.2% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,193.5.

** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.07 point to 109.17.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.0 basis points to 1.759%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 5.3 basis points to 2.148%. ($1 = 1,192.7100 won) (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Devika Syamnath)