S.Korean shares end at 2-week high as Samsung, Hyundai jump on Nvidia deals

SEOUL, March 17 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose more than 1% to close at a two-week high on Tuesday, as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor jumped on optimism around cooperation with U.S. artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia.

The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was up 90.63 points, or 1.63%, at 5,640.48, its highest closing level since March 3. During the session, it rose as much as 3.01%.

Samsung Electronics 005930.KS rose 2.76%, after Nvidia NVDA.O CEO Jensen Huang said the South Korean chipmaker was producing the company's new AI chips. Rival SK Hynix 000660.KS fell 0.41%.

Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS gained 3.16% and 3.27%, respectively, after they announced their strategic partnership with Nvidia would be expanded for next-generation autonomous driving technologies.

The announcements coincided with Nvidia's developer conference in California this week.

Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS climbed 3.96%, while Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS added 2.70%. Drugmaker Samsung BioLogics 207940.KS rose 1.21%.

Of the total 925 traded issues, 631 shares advanced, while 259 declined.

Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 177.5 billion won ($118.92 million).

The won was quoted at 1,493.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.11% lower than its previous close at 1,491.9.

Bank of Korea board member Lee Soo-hyung offered a rare assessment of the exchange rate level, saying that it was too early to tell if the current dollar-won level of around 1,500 was misaligned with economic fundamentals.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR rose by 1.2 basis points to 3.321%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 2.3 bps to 3.688%.

($1 = 1,492.6000 won)