* KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers * Korean won strengthens against dollar * South Korea benchmark bond yield rises * For the midday report, please click SEOUL, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Round-up of South Korean financial markets: ** South Korean shares closed at a record high on Wednesday, supported by demand optimism over artificial intelligence technologies driving profits at domestic chipmakers. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose. ** The benchmark KOSPI closed up 70.74 points, or 1.76%, at 4,081.15. ** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.01%, while peer SK Hynix gained 7.10%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.78%. ** Addressing a summit of APEC CEOs in Gyeongju, U.S Presient Donald Trump said a trade deal with South Korea would be finalised "very soon", though officials on both sides have been downplaying the prospect of a breakthrough this week. ** The United States and South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding on "technology prosperity", South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said on Wednesday, including using artificial intelligence to speed up progress in various technologies and industries. ** SK Hynix said it expects the global memory chip market to experience a prolonged "super cycle", and that supply growth is likely to be limited just as demand for AI applications expands. ** Shares of Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were up 2.99% and 1.94%, respectively. ** Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 1.55%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 0.89%. ** Of the total 930 traded issues, 305 shares advanced, while 566 declined. ** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 227.3 billion won. ** The KOSPI has risen 70.08% so far this year. ** The won has strengthened 2.8% against the dollar so far this year. ** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds lost 0.12 point to 106.55. ** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose 4.3 basis points to 2.676%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 4.7 basis points to 2.985%. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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