S.Korea shares fall on dented U.S. stimulus hopes, rising virus cases

    * KOSPI falls, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won weakens against U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

    SEOUL, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
    ** South Korean shares fell on Thursday, tracking global
peers on dented hopes of a key U.S. stimulus bill while rising
domestic cases of coronavirus infections further weighed on
sentiment. Both the won and the benchmark bond yield fell.
    
    ** By 0153 GMT, the benchmark KOSPI         had fallen 13.49
points, or 0.57%, to 2,357.37, after three straight sessions of
gains.
    
    ** Most market heavyweights were down, with chip giant
Samsung Electronics             shedding 1.5%.
    
    ** But electric vehicle battery maker LG Chem            
jumped as much as 4.1% after the company and its major customer
Tesla Inc          both posted record quarterly profits.
            
    
    ** The country reported 121 new coronavirus cases as of
Wednesday midnight, higher than 91 a day earlier, according to
the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
    
    ** "Domestic daily coronavirus cases jumped to triple
digits, raising concerns about its rapid spread and strengthened
social distancing measures amid worsening virus situations in
the United States and Europe," said DS Investment & Securities'
analyst Na Jeong-hwan.
    
    ** Foreigners were net sellers of 80.3 billion won ($70.88
million) worth of shares on the main board.
    
    ** The won was quoted at 1,133.0 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform           , 0.10% lower than its previous
close at 1,131.9.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won        was quoted at 1,132.9
per dollar, unchanged from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
              was quoted at 1,132.7.
    
    ** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year
treasury bonds         rose 0.05 point to 111.82.
    
    ** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by
1.8 basis points to 0.918%, while the benchmark 10-year yield
fell by 1.6 basis points to 1.508%.

($1 = 1,132.9200 won)

 (Reporting by Joori Roh; Additional reporting by Jihoon Lee;
Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)