* KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers

* Korean won strengthens against dollar

* South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

SEOUL, July 11 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose on Thursday, tracking Wall Street's record-setting rally, while shares of gaming firm Shift Up jumped 33% in their market debut after this year's second-largest South Korean IPO raised 435 billion won ($313 million).

** South Korea's central bank held interest rates steady as widely expected. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The benchmark KOSPI rose 22.67 points, or 0.79%, to 2,890.66 by 0054 GMT, hitting its highest level since mid-January 2022.

** The Nasdaq and S&P 500 rallied to record high closes on Wednesday, fuelled by gains in Nvidia and other Wall Street heavyweights ahead of inflation data and quarterly earnings reports due this week.

** The Bank of Korea extended a pause on interest rate for the 12th straight meeting on Thursday, as it continues efforts to tame inflation amid expectations policymakers will soon agree to lower the highest borrowing costs in 15 years.

** Investor focus is on Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong's press conference at 0210 GMT for clues on the timing of rate cuts.

** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.34% and peer SK Hynix gained 2.51%, but battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 0.55%.

** Hyundai Motor added 1.09%, but sister automaker Kia Corp lost 0.08% after a recall order.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 138.6 billion won on the main board.

** The won was quoted at 1,382.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.14% higher than its previous close at 1,384.0.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.8 basis points to 3.138%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.7 basis points to 3.215%. ($1 = 1,381.5000 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)