South Korean shares rose 8% on Thursday, with Samsung Electronics hitting a record high after a pay deal with its labour union averted a strike, easing concerns over potential disruption to the country's economy and global chip supply.
The benchmark KOSPI closed up 606.64 points, or 8.42%, at 7,815.59, marking its highest closing level since May 14 and biggest one-day gain since April 1.
Samsung Electronics rose 8.51% to notch a record close, after the chipmaker clinched an 11th-hour deal with its South Korean union, although the terms which included bonuses of around $416,000 for some workers gave rise to some concern.
Shares of peer SK Hynix gained 11.17%.
"Investor sentiment around the chip sector improved after Nvidia's earnings surprise suggested a possibility of a stronger artificial intelligence cycle," said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Wednesday aimed to assure investors that the world's most valuable company can keep up its blockbuster growth with the help of a broad base of customers and that new products will help it beat the $1 trillion in sales it has forecast for its flagship AI chips.
Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 4.29%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were up 12.50% and 12.38%, respectively.
Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 6.35%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 4.34%.
Of the total 917 traded issues, 669 shares advanced, while 221 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 243.4 billion won ($161.66 million).
The won was quoted at 1,506.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.62% lower than its previous close at 1,496.7.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.8 basis point to 3.750%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 4.0 basis points to 4.158%. ($1 = 1,505.6000 won)
