Round-up of South Korean financial markets: ** South Korean shares edged higher on Tuesday, extending gains into a fifth session on hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant may be mild. The won was nearly unchanged, while the benchmark bond yield rose. ** By 0158 GMT, the benchmark KOSPI (.KS11) rose 3.59 points, or 0.12%, to 2,976.84. ** Among heavyweights, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) rose 0.39% after the chip giant"s announcement on business restructuring, while its peer SK Hynix (000660.KS) added 2.11%. ** Investors appeared to be reassured by comments from Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, that the Omicron variant does not seem too severe. read more ** At home, there were 4,954 new coronavirus cases for Monday, while a total of 36 Omicron cases have been reported so far. ** Gains in stocks were limited as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of the U.S. consumer price report due on Friday that may strengthen the case for faster tapering of Fed"s asset purchases. read more ** On the main board, foreigners were net sellers of 88.7 billion won ($75.05 million) worth of shares. ** The won was quoted at 1,182.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , 0.06% higher than its previous close. ** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,181.8 per dollar, down 0.1% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,182.0. ** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.03 point to 108.92. ** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.0 basis point to 1.874%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 2.5 basis points to 2.237%. ($1 = 1,181.8200 won)