SEOUL, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Overview of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean stocks rebounded on Wednesday as signs of easing tensions between Russia and Ukraine boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won strengthened, while benchmark bond yields also rose.

** As of 02:00 GMT, the benchmark KOSPI (.KS11) rose 39.48 points, or 1.48%, to 2,716.02, after three consecutive sessions of losses.

**Among the heavyweights, chip giants Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) rose 0.95% and 3.54% respectively, while platform company Naver (035420. KS) gained 1.10%.

** Stock markets around the world, including in the United States, rallied after Russia indicated it had withdrawn some of its troops from exercises near the Ukrainian border. Read more

** Away from geopolitical issues, eyes are on the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting due for release later Wednesday, amid speculation that the US Federal Reserve could raise rates by 50 points base in March.

** South Korea reported a daily record 90,443 new coronavirus cases, doubling in a week amid the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant. Read more

**Separately, the data showed the country’s unemployment rate fell slightly in January, with the number of employed people growing at the fastest rate in nearly 22 years. Read more

** Foreigners were net sellers of 32.2 billion won ($26.90 million) of shares on the main board.

** The won was quoted at 1,197.1 to the dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.23% higher than its previous close.

** In offshore trade, the won was quoted at 1,197.1 to the dollar, unchanged from the previous day, while in non-deliverable futures trade, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,197.5 .

** In money and debt markets, March three-year Treasury bill futures rose 0.09 points to 107.61.

** The benchmark 10-year yield increased by 0.6 basis points to 2.716%.

($1 = 1,197.0900 won)

Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu

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