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Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares rose on Tuesday to their highest level in six weeks, led by heavyweight chipmakers tracking a global rally over the holiday weekend.
** The benchmark KOSPI closed up 29.32 points, or 1.12%, at 2,649.64, its highest since Jan. 2.
** Chipmaker SK Hynix gained 5.04%, marking its biggest jump since Nov. 6, 2023. Bigger rival Samsung Electronics rose 1.48%.
** "Foreigners scooped up semiconductor stocks amid a boom in artificial intelligence," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
** The Nasdaq slipped on Monday, after briefly surpassing its record closing high from November 2021, while the S&P 500 closed slightly lower but remained just above the 5,000-point level it crossed on Friday.
** South Korea's exports for the first 10 days of February fell 14.6% from a year earlier, according to data on Tuesday, due to a calendar difference.
** Of the total 936 traded issues, 599 shares advanced, while 287 declined.
** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 944.9 billion won ($711.40 million) for the day on the main board, extending their buying streak to an eighth straight session.
** The won ended onshore trade at 1,328.1 per dollar, marginally higher than its previous close at 1,328.2.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.16 point to 104.62.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.8 basis points (bps) to 3.353%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 5.4 bps to 3.454%. ($1 = 1,328.2300 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sonia Cheema)