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KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers

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Korean won slightly down against dollar

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South Korea benchmark bond yield inches up

SEOUL, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose more than 1% on Wednesday as markets tracked global risk sentiment after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks, with online platform operators buoyed by optimism around artificial intelligence (AI).

** The Korean won and the benchmark bond yield traded flat.

** The benchmark KOSPI index rose 27.50 points, or 1.12%, to 2,479.21 as of 0150 GMT.

** Friday's blockbuster jobs report showed why the battle against inflation will "take quite a bit of time," Powell said on Tuesday, acknowledging that rates may need to move higher than expected if that sort of economic strength threatens the Fed's progress in lowering inflation.

** "His remarks changed little from the monetary policy meeting last week, offering quite a lot of what the market wanted to hear from him," said Mirae Asset Securities' analyst Kim Seok-hwan, especially noting his use of the phrase "disinflation."

** Technology giant Samsung Electronics rose 1.62%, peer SK Hynix gained 2.31%, and battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 0.55%.

** Search engine Naver jumped more than 5%, tracking AI-related stocks' gains on Wall Street overnight. Instant messenger Kakao climbed more than 2%.

** Of the total 933 issues traded, 539 shares gained.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 202.1 billion won ($160.98 million).

** The won was quoted at 1,255.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, down 0.04%.

** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.07 point to 104.66.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.6 basis point to 3.330%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.0 basis point to 3.313%. ($1 = 1,255.4500 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; editing by Uttaresh.V)