* KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
* Korean won weakens against dollar
* South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
* For the midday report, please click
SEOUL, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares ended the first trading day of 2024 with a gain and hit a 19-month high on boost from biopharmaceutical and e-commerce stocks.
** The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.
** The benchmark KOSPI closed up 14.53 points, or 0.55%, at 2,669.81 on Tuesday. It was the highest since June 3, 2022.
** "The gain on the index was led by a steep jump in biopharmaceutical stocks, while foreigners bought chipmakers on hopes for an improvement in demand," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
** South Korea's exports rose for a third month in December but at a slower pace as weaker demand for Korean goods in China offset robust global sales for semiconductors.
** Biopharmaceutical manufacturer Celltrion surged 14.89%, posting its best day since late March 2020. Peer Samsung Biologics gained 3.82%.
** Instant messenger Kakao jumped 6.63%, while search engine Naver rose 1.56%.
** Among other index heavyweights, chipmakers rose, but automakers fell, while battery makers were mixed.
** Of the total 939 traded issues, 440 shares advanced, while 450 declined.
** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 227.2 billion won ($174.72 million) for the day on the main board.
** The won ended onshore trade at 1,300.4 per dollar, 0.95% lower than its previous close at 1,288.0.
** It was the first day South Korean authorities opened the interbank foreign exchange market to foreign financial institutions under a pilot programme.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.34 point to 105.09.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 8.7 basis points to 3.232%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 13.4 basis points to 3.309%. ($1 = 1,300.3400 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)