* KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers

* Korean won strengthens against dollar

* South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

*

SEOUL, May 7 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose on the first trading session of the week on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street gains overnight on hopes the Federal Reserve may start cutting interest rates this year. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

** The benchmark KOSPI rose 50.91 points, or 1.90%, to 2,727.54 by 02:42 GMT.

** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 3.74% and peer SK Hynix gained 4.10%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.38%.

** The Federal Reserve's next policy rate move is unlikely to be an increase, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, adding that the central bank's policy focus has been to maintain its current restrictive policy stance.

** Hyundai Motor added 0.41% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 1.84%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 0.57% and up 1.83%, respectively.

** Of the total 932 traded issues, 515 shares advanced, while 339 declined.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 598.0 billion won.

** The won was quoted at 1,357.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.37% higher than its previous close at 1,362.8.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,357.7 per dollar, down 0.2% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,354.8.

** The KOSPI has risen 2.72% so far this year, but lost 2.8% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

** The won has lost 5.1% against the dollar so far this year.

** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.13 point to 104.27.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 2.8 basis points to 3.471%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 5.6 basis points to 3.555%. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Rashmi Aich)