South Korean shares rise on Nvidia-driven chip rally, central bank decision

Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose on Thursday, led by chipmaker SK Hynix after a rally in its key customer, U.S.-based artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia, and as investors welcomed the central bank's decision to stand pat on its interest rates.

** The benchmark KOSPI KOSPI was up 19.24 points, or 0.61%, at 3,152.98, as of 0055 GMT, its highest intraday level since mid-September 2021.

** As expected, the Bank of Korea held interest rates steady, as policymakers steered a cautious path amid concerns about financial stability risks stemming from rising household debt and economic pressure from U.S. tariffs.

** Shares of SK Hynix 000660 advanced 1.51%, mirroring a strong performance in Nvidia NVDA after the AI darling became the world's first company to hit a $4 trillion market value.

** Nvidia's soaring market value underscores Wall Street's confidence in the rapid growth of AI, with the company's high-performance chips forming the backbone of this technological advance.

** Among other index heavyweights, rival Samsung Electronics 005930 rose 0.5% and battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220 climbed 1.07%.

** Hyundai Motor 005380 and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270 were trading unchanged and up 0.7%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490 shed 0.16%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics 207940 rose 5.01%.

** Of the total 932 traded issues, 550 shares advanced, while 324 declined.

** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 69.8 billion won ($50.88 million).

** The won was quoted at 1,372.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform USDKRW, 0.23% higher than its previous close at 1,375.2.

** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds (KTBc1) gained 0.07 point to 107.22.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield (KR3YT=RR) fell 1.7 basis points to 2.460%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10 fell 4.1 basis points to 2.820%.

($1 = 1,371.9800 won)