S.Korea stocks fall as foreigners offload equities ahead of MSCI rejig

* KOSPI falls, foreigners sell

* KRW gains against USD

* South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

SEOUL, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares slid on Monday as foreigners continued to sell equities ahead of the rebalancing of MSCI index, while cautious investors also awaited concrete evidence on progress in Sino-U.S. trade talks. The won and the benchmark bond yield rose.

** As of 0233 GMT, the Seoul stock market's main KOSPI index fell 9.46 points, or 0.44%, to 2,152.72.

** Foreigners were seen selling shares pre-emptively ahead of the rebalancing of MSCI index, while the markets are taking a cautious stance on major issues such as U.S.-China trade dispute, Hong Kong and Huawei issue, said Lee Won, analyst at Bookook Securities.

** Foreigners were net sellers of 110.5 billion won worth of shares on the main board, extending the selloff for an eighth straight session.

** Chinese state media Xinhua said China and United States had "constructive talks" on trade in a high-level phone call on Saturday, while U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also said on Friday that there was a "very high probability" that the United States would reach a final agreement on a phase one trade deal with China.

** The Trump administration is set to issue a two-week extension of a license allowing U.S. companies to continue doing business with China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], two sources familiar with the deliberations said.

** The won was quoted at 1,164.9 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , 0.15% higher than its previous close at 1,166.6.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,163.8 per U.S. dollar, down 0.1% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,163.3 per dollar.

** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.17%, after U.S. stocks ended higher in the previous session [MKTS/GLOB]. Japanese stocks rose 0.27%.

** The KOSPI has risen 5.47% so far this year, while it gained 3.2% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 259.86 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 905, the number of advancing shares was 294.

** The won has lost 4.2% against the dollar so far this year.

** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds was unchanged at 110.02, while the 3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.53%.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.0 basis point to 1.522%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.1 basis points to 1.798%. (Reporting by Joori Roh; editing by Uttaresh.V) ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1493)) Keywords: SOUTHKOREA MARKETS/MIDDAY

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