KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers Korean won flat against U.S. dollar South Korea benchmark bond yield falls SEOUL, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets: ** South Korean shares headed for their best session in two weeks on Friday, powered by a rally in chip shares and Wall Street"s strong overnight performance on positive U.S. data that offset concerns over the Omicron COVID-19 variant. The Korean won held flat, while the benchmark bond yield fell. ** By 0143 GMT, the benchmark KOSPI (.KS11) rose 17.72 points, or 0.59%, to 3,015.89, set for the sharpest daily jump since Dec. 9 and extending gains into a fourth straight day. ** The benchmark index was nearly unchanged for the week, after logging a three-week winning streak. ** The S&P 500 notched a record-high close on Thursday, with oil prices also rising, as strong U.S. jobs data and consumer spending put the world"s largest economy on track for a strong finish to 2021. read more ** Further boosting sentiment, studies showed that Omicron carries a lower risk of hospitalisation, while Merck (MRK.N) and Pfizer (PFE.N) said their COVID-19 antiviral pills are effective against the variant. read more ** At home, chip heavyweights rose for a fourth straight day, with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) jumping to the highest level in more than four months and SK Hynix (000660.KS) touching a 6-1/2-month high, as hopes for a rosy sector-wide outlook continued. ** Foreigners were net buyers of 125.2 billion won ($105.43 million) worth of shares on the main board. ** The won was quoted at 1,188.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , nearly unchanged from its previous close. ** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,187.3, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,187.0. ** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.03 point to 109.02. ** The benchmark 10-year yield fell by 0.3 basis point to 2.212%. ($1 = 1,187.5200 won)