 south korean shares rose on wednesday after two straight sessions of losses helped by institutional buying although gains were checked by heightening tensions around ukraine the korean won strengthened while the benchmark bond yield rose  the benchmark kospi ks11 rose 865 points or 032 to 271544 as of 0225 gmt  among heavyweights technology giant samsung electronics 005930ks fell 068 and peer sk hynix 000660ks dropped 078 while battery maker lg energy solution 373220ks rose 023  western nations on tuesday punished russia with new sanctions for ordering troops into separatist regions of eastern ukraine and threatened to go further if moscow launched an allout invasion of its neighbour read more  south korea reported 171452 new coronavirus cases for tuesday another daily record and a sharp increase from 99573 a day before the korea disease control and prevention agency said on wednesday  but strong inflow of institutional investor money drove stocks higher said cape investment  securities analyst na jeonghwan adding that they seemed to be betting stocks would not fall below previous lows even if the ukraine crisis worsened  institutional investors were net buyers of 975 billion won 8181 million worth of shares on the main board while foreigners net sold 1198 billion won 10052 million  the won was quoted at 11920 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform  006 higher than its previous close at 11927  in offshore trading the won was quoted flat at 11915 per dollar while in nondeliverable forward trading its onemonth contract was quoted at 11920  in money and debt markets march futures on threeyear treasury bonds rose 005 point to 10775  the most liquid 3year korean treasury bond yield fell by 14 basis points to 2313 while the benchmark 10year yield rose by 01 basis point to 2718