SINGAPORE - Stocks rose on ⁠Thursday, powered by AI fervour that pushed South Korea's SK Hynix to the brink of joining the trillion-dollar club, while the spotlight was firmly ‌on a high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping.

Trump received a grand welcome at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Thursday as he opened talks ​with President Xi, expected to focus on their fragile trade truce and flashpoints such as the Iran war and arms sales to Taiwan.

Michael Strobaek, global chief investment officer at Lombard Odier, ​said ​preserving the status quo may be the most the Trump-Xi meeting can achieve.

"I think that, amid the uncertainties around the Middle East ceasefire, that may be enough for now," said Strobaek, noting expectations are low and groundwork for any major diplomatic breakthroughs appears thin.

China's blue-chip stocks eased 1% ⁠after hitting their highest level since late 2021 at the start of the session, while the yuan rose to a three-year high against the dollar as traders watched the headlines from the Trump-Xi meeting.

STOCKS FLY ON AI

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.3%, hovering near the record-high hit last week.

Japan's Nikkei was perched at a new all-time peak with data showing AI-linked demand partly helped lift earnings for Japanese firms. Seoul's KOSPI gave up its early gains to trade ​flat on the day.

SK Hynix, ‌one of the AI ⁠darlings in Asia, is on the ⁠verge of reaching $1 trillion market cap, becoming the second South Korean firm after Samsung to break into the trillion-dollar club. SK Hynix stock is up over 200% this ​year.

European futures pointed to a strong open while U.S. stock futures were up 0.13%.

Analysts though caution that the ‌elevated oil prices and the impasse in negotiations to end the war in the Middle East could bring ⁠inflationary worries back into view.

"Markets are trying to run two playbooks at once: AI and earnings says buy growth, but geopolitics and energy prices are quietly re-writing the inflation trajectory in the background," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo.

"While today’s session may still follow the AI momentum, a macro reality check remains likely from the Trump-Xi meeting."

Brent crude futures were slightly higher at $105.89 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fetched $101.33 per barrel. Oil prices remain well above the pre-war levels, fanning inflation worries worldwide.

DOLLAR GETS A LIFT FROM INFLATION DATA

In currencies, the U.S. dollar held on to its gains as investors wagered the Federal Reserve's next rate move would be a hike after hotter-than-anticipated inflation reports this week.

U.S. producer prices posted their biggest gain since early 2022, following Tuesday's consumer price data that showed annual inflation rose at its fastest pace in three years.

Higher inflation and stronger labour ‌market data have led some traders to price in the prospect of a potential rate hike in ⁠the first half of next year even as many economists and analysts continue to see a rate ​cut as the likely next move by the U.S. central bank.

The euro bought $1.1716, near its lowest in a week. Sterling was at $1.35282, leaving the dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six others, at 98.458.

The yen fetched 157.88 per U.S. dollar, keeping traders wary of fresh Tokyo intervention after recent sharp spikes that sources say were driven ​by officials stepping ‌in to prop up the battered currency.

The two-year yield was at 3.9708%, down 1.9 basis points but near the 1-1/2-month ⁠high it hit in the previous session. The benchmark 10-year yield ​stood at 4.4629%, having touched close to a one-year high on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore Editing by Shri Navaratnam)