* KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers

* Korean won strengthens against U.S. dollar

* South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

* For the midday report, please click

SEOUL, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares snapped three days of losses and marked their best session in nearly seven months on Thursday, boosted by hopes of easing Sino-U.S. tensions and progress on the debt-ceiling impasse in Washington. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

** The benchmark KOSPI closed up 51.15 points, or 1.76%, at 2,959.46, after it declined 1.82% on Wednesday.

** The United States and China have agreed in principle for their presidents to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year, a senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday.

** Meanwhile, a top U.S. Senate Republican backed an extension of the U.S. debt ceiling, raising hopes that a temporary deal to avert a federal debt default in the next two weeks was near.

** Among heavyweights, chip giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.42% ahead of its third-quarter preliminary results on Friday, while platform companies Naver and Kakao surged 5.50% and 5.75%, respectively.

** Foreigners were net sellers of 106.6 billion won ($89.52 million) worth of shares on the main board.

** Investors are now focused on payrolls data due on Friday that could reveal the U.S. Federal Reserve's next move on tapering its massive stimulus programme.

** The won ended at 1,190.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.16% higher than its previous close.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,191.0 per dollar, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,191.5.

** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.06 points to 108.99.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 2.2 basis points to 1.702%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.4 basis points to 2.386%. ($1 = 1,190.7600 won) (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)