EMERGING MARKETS-AI optimism powers South Korean, Taiwan shares to record highs

By Roshan Thomas

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence-linked stocks in South Korea and Taiwan rose on Tuesday, with both benchmarks scaling record highs as investors brushed aside overnight concerns over AI's potentially disruptive impact on software and other industries.

Regional currencies were steady against a broadly flat dollar index USD= as investors assessed the global trade impact of renewed turbulence surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff regime.

Analysts at MUFG said export-oriented currencies such as the Korean won KRW=KFTC, Malaysian ringgit MYR= and, to a lesser extent, the Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS were better positioned to weather Trump's tariffs, while the Indian rupee INR=IN and Indonesian rupiah IDR= were likely to lag.

The won lost 0.3%, while the ringgit, Philippine peso PHP= and Indonesian rupiah all shed 0.3%.

The MSCI index of emerging Asian equities .MIMS00000PUS climbed 0.7% to a record peak, buoyed by a 2.1% rise in South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 and a 2.7% gain in Taiwan stocks .TWII. The two tech-heavy markets account for about 40% of the MSCI index.

The regional IT gauge .MIMS0IT00PUS climbed 3.1% to an all-time high.

Overnight, Wall Street came under pressure amid concerns over AI's disruptive impact and Trump's erratic statements on trade policy.

Despite the broad weakness, South Korean shares extended their rally, moving closer to the 6,000-point milestone.

Investors are now focused on earnings from AI bellwether Nvidia NVDA.O, due on Wednesday.

"The market knows that if Nvidia guides strongly again, it will help reinforce the whole AI supply chain narrative, and Korean memory producers sit right in the middle of all that," said Zavier Wong, market analyst at eToro.

"So in some sense, this looks like pre-positioning around that expectation, with some confidence already priced in," Wong said.

Taiwan stocks .TWII extended their advance to a record high of 34,707.02 points, with top contract chipmaker TSMC 2330.TW up 4%.

Tight advanced-node order books and sustained earnings momentum should keep global money rotating into Taiwan, with confidence in demand and margins supporting tolerance for concentration risk, Wong said.

Thai shares .SETI fell 0.4% as investors brace for the Bank of Thailand's policy decision on Wednesday, where the central bank is widely expected to stand pat on interest rates, as per a Reuters poll.

Equity markets in Malaysia .KLSE lost 0.5%, while the Philippines .PSI added 0.5%. Singapore stocks .STI lost 0.7%.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Taiwan seeks U.S. assurances tariff deal terms will not change

Malaysia monitoring U.S. tariff situation closely, PM says

Bank of Korea to keep interest rates steady at 2.50% through 2026