South Korean shares rise, boosted by auto, steel makers

SEOUL, March 6 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose on Thursday, as automakers jumped after U.S. President Donald Trump exempted auto imports from Mexico and Canada from tariffs for a month, while steelmakers also rallied.

The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was up 14.73 points, or 0.58%, at 2,572.86 as of 0128 GMT.

Hyundai Motor 005380.KS rose 1.28% and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS, which has a factory in Mexico, gained 2.82%, after Trump said the U.S. would exempt automakers from 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month.

Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS jumped 5.97% and Hyundai Steel 004020.KS climbed 5.63%. Earlier this week, Trump said South Korea and other countries wanted to partner with the United States on a "gigantic" natural gas pipeline in Alaska.

Meanwhile, South Korea's consumer inflation softened in February for the first time in four months, data showed on Thursday, providing at least some relief to policymakers looking to further ease monetary policy.

Of the total 937 traded issues, 473 shares advanced, while 383 declined.

Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 16.1 billion won ($11.18 million).

The won was quoted at 1,443.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.46% higher than its previous close at 1,450.0.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 fell 0.12 point to 106.66.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR rose by 2.7 basis points to 2.607%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR rose by 6.9 basis points to 2.826%.

($1 = 1,439.9000 won)