South Korean shares logged on Tuesday their sharpest daily gain in more than six weeks, tracking strong overnight performance in Wall Street, as traders bet on the prospect the U.S. Federal Reserve may start cutting interest rates this year. ** The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell. ** The benchmark KOSPI ended higher at 57.71 points, or 2.16%, at 2,734.34, the sharpest daily gain since March 21.

** Data on Friday showed U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in April, taking pressure off the central bank to keep rates higher for longer.

** Among index heavyweights, South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 4.7% and peer SK Hynix gained 3.7%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.1%.

** Shares of Hyundai Motor added 0.4% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 1.6%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao edged up 0.1% and 1.02%, respectively.

** Of the total 933 traded issues, 585 shares advanced, while 286 declined.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 980.1 billion won on the main board on Tuesday.

** The won ended onshore trade at 1,360.1 per dollar, 0.20% higher than its previous close at 1,362.8.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,360.0 per dollar, down 0.4% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,356.8.

** The KOSPI has risen 2.9% so far this year, but lost 2.8% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

** The won has lost 5.3% against the dollar so far this year.

** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.18 point to 104.32.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 4.4 basis points to 3.455%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 7.1 basis points to 3.540%. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)