South Korean shares cut early losses as chip, auto stocks rebound

SEOUL, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares cut early losses on Wednesday, as chipmakers resumed a rally on upbeat export data and automakers jumped on optimism around robot technologies.

The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was down 1.16% at 4,828.87 points as of 0233 GMT, after falling as much as 1.6% earlier in the day.

During the session, the index briefly turned higher, after opening lower on Wall Street's overnight slump on U.S. President Donald Trump's fresh tariff threat against Europe. .N

South Korea's exports in the first 20 days of this month rose 14.9% year-on-year, as semiconductor shipments jumped 70%, data showed.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS gained as much as 3% and peer SK Hynix 000660.KS added 1% after the data release.

Hyundai Motor 005380.KS climbed 9% to an all-time high, resuming a rally after falling on profit-taking pressure on Tuesday. Sister automaker Kia 000270.KS rose 2%.

Still, most other index heavyweights fell, including battery makers, drugmakers and e-commerce firms.

The won was quoted up 0.3% at 1,472.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC.

South Korean authorities expect the won to strengthen to around 1,400 per dollar level in a month or two, President Lee Jae Myung told a news conference.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR fell 3.0 basis points to 3.152%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR shed 3.1 basis points to 3.620%.