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By Sneha Kumar

June 1 (Reuters) - South Korean and Taiwanese equities climbed to record highs on Monday, driven by a rally in AI-related equities, as investors awaited U.S. President Donald Trump's decision on a proposal to extend the ceasefire with Iran.

MSCI's EM Asia equities gauge .MIMS00000PUS advanced nearly 2% to an all-time high, buoyed by a 4.5% jump in South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 and a 1.7% rise in Taiwan stocks .TWII. The two tech-heavy markets account for about 40% of the MSCI index.

Seoul shares surged to a record high, driven by a near 10% jump in index heavyweight Samsung Electronics 005930.KS and a 2.2% rise in rival SK Hynix 000660.KS.

Investors were optimistic that the much-anticipated meetings between Nvidia NVDA.O CEO Jensen Huang and South Korean executives could potentially lead to tie-ups in AI and robotics.

Meanwhile, TSMC 2330.TW shares gained more than 1.5%.

Andrew Sheets, a strategist at Morgan Stanley, called 2026 a very "macro" year, with the AI buildout and the Strait of Hormuz dominating global newsflow, pulling at nearly every asset class, and helping explain unusually high stock-bond correlations.

However, Sheets said Asia presents a compelling investment case, as the region is undergoing a broad industrial super-cycle that is much larger than just the semiconductor industry.

Oil prices rose more than 2% in early trading on Monday after Israel ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago. O/R

Philippine shares .PSI rose 1.3%, helped by a more than 5% gain in International Container Terminal ICT.PS. The benchmark stock index was up after three straight sessions of falls to a six-month low on Friday.

The dollar index =USD held steady, pressuring regional currencies. The South Korean won KRW=KFTC depreciated to 1,516.5 per dollar and the Philippine peso PHP= edged closer to its record low of 61.753. The Indian rupee INR=IN appreciated marginally to 94.91 a dollar in early trade.

Markets were closed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore for public holidays.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Gas leak at SK Hynix chip factory injures six people, Yonhap reports

** US proposes new plan to ease Israel-Lebanon tensions amid fighting

** Philippines, Vietnam elevate ties to enhanced strategic partnership

Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0335 GMT
COUNTRY	FX RIC	FX DAILY %	FX YTD %	INDEX	STOCKS DAILY %	STOCKS YTD %
Japan	JPY=	-0.13	-1.76	.N225	1.07	33.17
China	CNY=CFXS	-0.03	+3.25	.SSEC	-0.39	2.11
India	INR=IN	+0.10	-5.31	.NSEI	0.00	-9.88
Indonesia	IDR=	-	-6.69	.JKSE	-	-29.14
Malaysia	MYR=	-	+2.35	.KLSE	-	0.18
Philippines	PHP=	-0.34	-4.74	.PSI	1.25	-3.51
S.Korea	KRW=KFTC	-0.77	-5.08	.KS11	4.51	110.20
Singapore	SGD=	-0.07	+0.64	.STI	-	8.43
Taiwan	TWD=TP	+0.11	+0.28	.TWII	1.71	57.08
Thailand	THB=TH	-0.06	-3.35	.SETI	-	24.51