South Korea's Kospi wavers as tech stocks rally on Nvidia forecast

South Korea's Kospi index fluctuated Thursday after the central bank raised interest rates for the second time to combat inflation, while tech stocks rallied on Nvidia's strong earnings forecast. The Bank of Korea increased its base lending rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3%, the highest since January last year, citing elevated underlying inflation driven by US-Iran conflict fuel prices and strong wage growth. Samsung and SK Hynix shares rose 2.50% and 3.67% respectively after Nvidia reported $96 billion quarterly revenue and projected over 70% growth next fiscal year. The Kospi has recovered from its yearly low of 5,280 points to 6,915, forming an ascending channel that analysts suggest may precede a retest of the 6,000 level, unless it breaks resistance at 6,933.