* KOSPI flat, foreigners net sellers
* Korean won steady against U.S. dollar
* South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
* For the midday report, please click
SEOUL, March 25 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
** South Korean shares ended flat on Friday, despite a near
8% boost in battery maker LG Energy Solution (LGES), as investor
sentiment was hurt by losses in Chinese tech stocks and the
Ukraine crisis. The Korean won ended steady, while the benchmark
bond yield rose.
** The benchmark KOSPI closed flat at 2,729.98. For
the week, the index gained 0.85%, following a 1.72% increase a
week earlier.
** Shares of LGES soared 7.60%, leading the
index gains, after the supplier for EV makers Tesla and Lucid
announced an 1.7 trillion won ($1.39 billion) investment plan to
build a battery factory in Arizona by 2024.
** Capping benchmark gains, other heavyweights slid as
investors assessed the impact of the Ukraine crisis and U.S.
rate-hike prospects. Chipmaker SK Hynix and web
portal operator Naver dropped 2.07% and 2.06%,
respectively.
** Western leaders on Thursday agreed to strengthen their
forces in Eastern Europe, increase military aid to Ukraine and
tighten their sanctions on Russia, as Moscow's assault on its
neighbour entered the second month.
** Foreigners were net sellers of 553.2 billion won ($453.68
million) worth of shares on the main board.
** The won ended at 1,218.8 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform, unchanged from its previous
close. It ended the week lower by 0.92%, reversing 2.02% rise in
the previous week.
** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at
1,219.3, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month
contract was quoted at 1,219.1.
** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year
treasury bonds fell 0.11 point to 106.71.
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by
4.8 basis points to 2.501%.
($1 = 1,219.3600 won)
(Reporting by Joori Roh)