EMERGING MARKETS-South Korea stocks lead Asian equities up on AI optimism

By Shivangi Lahiri

March 17 (Reuters) - South Korean stocks jumped 3% on Tuesday, leading gains in emerging Asian markets, driven by Nvidia's bullish forecast for AI chip demand, even as investors navigate war in the Middle East and a clutch of central bank meetings this week.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index .KS11 rose as much as 3%, pushing past 5,700 points on the back of a 5% gain in Samsung Electronics 005930.KS shares. Its rival chipmaker SK Hynix 000660.KS also gained 3.7%.

Nvidia NVDA.O CEO Jensen Huang said its new AI chips were being made by Samsung, prompting analysts to predict that the South Korean firm's loss-making foundry business could return to profit as early as next year.

Taiwan .TWII, another tech-heavy stock market which stands to benefit from a surge in demand for AI chips, rose as much as 2%.

That helped the MSCI EM Asia index .MIMS00000PUS advance about 1.9%.

However, ongoing conflict in the Middle East, now in its third week, has raised concerns about elevated oil prices, inflation risks and central banks' responses. TOP/CEN

"We do expect this conflict to resolve itself over the next few weeks, but the issue is that the energy supply might take a bit longer to come back due to infrastructure rebuilding," Ang Ze Yi, Asian fixed income senior portfolio manager at AllianzGI, said.

An equities risk score tracked by DBS analysts showed volatility at its highest since April last year. They warned that stress levels could rise further if hostilities in the Gulf persist.

"A sustained cooling of Middle East tensions is a prerequisite for markets to pivot their full attention back to the many central bank meetings this week," DBS analysts wrote.

Markets will be keenly awaiting monetary policy decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, and some of the other G10 central banks. On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked rates for a second straight month to contain inflation.

In Southeast Asia, Bank Indonesia is expected to keep its policy interest rate unchanged in a decision just a few hours away, a Reuters poll showed.

Stocks in Jakarta .JKSE rose 1.8%, while the rupiah IDR= inched higher to 16,980 per dollar, but remained within striking distance of its all-time low of 16,995.

Shares in Bangkok .SETI rose as much as 2.4% to their highest since March 2, while those in Kuala Lumpur .KLSE advanced 0.9%.

Currencies in emerging Asia were largely muted, with the Malaysian ringgit MYR= gaining as much as 0.3% to hit its highest level in two weeks.

On the contrary, Thailand's baht THB=TH slipped to 32.40 against the dollar, while the Philippine peso PHP= hovered close to the key psychological level of 60 per dollar.

HIGHLIGHTS:

South Korea to decide about any Strait of Hormuz deployment under law, constitution, says minister

Taiwan says it has received no information from US on delay of second arms sale

Hong Kong leader says he's very concerned about rise in oil prices

Japan's underlying inflation accelerating toward BOJ target, Governor Ueda says