South Korean shares close at over 3-month high on Wall Street boost

• KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
• Korean won steady against dollar
• South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
• For the midday report, please click

SEOUL, May 28 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares closed at their highest level in more than three months on Wednesday, boosted by Wall Street's overnight rally.

** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 ended up 32.94 points, or 1.25%, at 2,670.16, its highest closing level since February 19.

** During the session, the KOSPI rose more than 2% to hit the highest intraday level since September 3, 2024.

** U.S stock indexes surged on Tuesday as investor risk appetite was buoyed by President Donald Trump's latest tariff respite and an unexpected jump in consumer confidence. .N

** Trump paused his threatened 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union until July 9, following a weekend call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

** The Bank of Korea is expected to lower its key policy rate by 25 basis points on Thursday as economic activity contracted in the last quarter and benign inflation supports the case for easing, according to a Reuters poll.

** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS rose 3.71%, while peer SK Hynix 000660.KS gained 2.72%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS climbed 6.06%.

** Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS were up 2.20% and 0.91%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS added 5.27%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics 207940.KS rose 0.19%.

** Of the total 936 traded issues, 580 shares advanced, while 311 declined.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 293.4 billion won ($213.3 million).

** The won was quoted steady at 1,376.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC.

** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 gained 0.05 points to 107.62.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR fell by 2.6 basis points to 2.315%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 1.2 basis points to 2.711%.

($1 = 1,375.7300 won)