* KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers Korean won strengthens against dollar South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

SEOUL, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose 1.5% on Friday, as heavyweight chipmakers tracked a rally in their global peers amid booming demand for high-end chips used in artificial-intelligence (AI) applications. The won and the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The benchmark KOSPI climbed for a second straight session, up by 36.52 points, or 1.50%, at 2,476.56, as of 0041 GMT.

** For the week, the KOSPI was still down 2%, on track for a third weekly decline.

** U.S. stocks ended sharply up on Thursday, with the S&P 500 approaching record highs as AI optimism drove gains in Nvidia and other chipmakers.

** South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 2.9% and peer SK Hynix gained 2.8%, after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index's overnight jump of 3.80%.

** Samsung Electronics is likely to record its biggest daily rise since mid-October, if gains hold.

** Automakers, biopharmaceutical manufacturers and online platform firms gained, while battery makers struggled for direction.

** Of 931 traded issues, 748 shares advanced, while 130 declined.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 160.2 billion won ($119.99 million) on the main board so far on Friday, after five consecutive sessions of selling.

** Foreigners sold 1.1 trillion won so far this week. They are on course to snap a six-week buying streak and post the biggest weekly sell-off since late October.

** The won was quoted at 1,334.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.38% higher than its previous close at 1,339.7.

** For the week, the currency was down 1.6%.

** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.09 point to 104.81.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield climbed 2.0 basis points to 3.306%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose 4.2 basis points to 3.423%.

($1 = 1,335.1400 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)