South Korean shares rise more than 1% as chipmakers jump

SEOUL, March 12 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose on Wednesday, led by chipmakers tracking gains in U.S. peers, with market focus on U.S. tariffs and inflation data due later in the day.

The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was up 31.66 points, or 1.25%, at 2,569.26, as of 0110 GMT.

U.S. President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Tuesday that an increased tariff of 50% on Canadian steel and aluminum will not take effect on Wednesday.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS rose 1.68% and peer SK Hynix 000660.KS gained 3.46%, after U.S. artificial intelligence firm Nvidia NVDA.O rose 1.7% on Tuesday.

Most other index heavyweights also climbed, including battery makers, biopharmaceutical manufacturers, e-commerce firms and automakers.

Of the total 939 traded issues, 591 shares advanced, while 281 declined.

Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 60.7 billion won ($41.73 million).

The won was quoted at 1,454.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.02% higher than its previous close at 1,455.0.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 fell 0.01 point to 106.75.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR rose by 0.4 basis points to 2.565%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR rose by 3.0 basis points to 2.773%.

($1 = 1,454.7500 won)