(Refreshes markets through Asia afternoon, adds Nvidia ( NVDA ) news in

11th paragraph)

* MSCI Asia ex-Japan fluctuates between gains and losses,

KOSPI choppy

* Oil prices steady around $95 as Brent resumes trading

* Anthropic IPO, Google cash call renew hopes around AI

supply chain

By Gregor Stuart Hunter

SINGAPORE, June 2 (Reuters) - Asian stocks found their

footing in unsteady trading on Tuesday as investors shrugged off

doubts about the durability of a Middle East ceasefire to return

to favoured AI plays.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

rose 0.4% after fluctuating between gains and

losses as trading commenced. Regional declines were led by

Korean shares tumbling as much as 3.3% after an

initially higher open, while gains for shares in China and Hong

Kong steadied the regional benchmark. S&P 500 e-mini futures

were down 0.3%, while in Japan, the Nikkei 225

slumped 0.7%.

"This isn't a re-rating of the AI trade; it's profit-taking

after a blistering run," said Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG

in Sydney.

"Ceasefire negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have seen

repeated false starts since April, and today's lack of progress

is no exception," she said. "The market has grown accustomed to

the back-and-forth."

Brent crude slipped 0.9% to $94.13 a barrel after

Lebanon announced a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and

Israel on Monday, retracing some of Monday's gains after reports

that Tehran had halted indirect negotiations with the U.S.

Markets remain cautious about progress in U.S.-Iran peace

talks to end their three-month war, given the fragility of the

April ceasefire.

Overnight, the S&P 500 closed 0.3% higher after ISM's

manufacturing PMI rose to 54.0 in May from 52.7 the previous

month, beating expectations to reach the highest level in four

years, likely driven by businesses front-loading orders amid

rising prices and shortages because of the war with Iran.

"That the equity market is in boom mode is not up for

debate," despite higher energy prices and surging real interest

rates, said David Rosenberg, founder and president at Rosenberg

Research in Toronto, in a note to clients. "The S&P 500 is now

up nine weeks in a row, a streak we last witnessed in late

2023."

KOSPI CAPER

AI suppliers in Asia made gains after AI developer Anthropic

said it had confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public

offering, which could draw a trillion-dollar valuation. Alphabet

shares slipped 0.7% in after-hours trading after the

tech giant said it is looking to raise $80 billion in equity

offerings, including an investment from Berkshire Hathaway, in

an aggressive push to fund expansion of its AI infrastructure.

Meanwhile in Taipei, Nvidia ( NVDA ) CEO Jensen Huang said

on Tuesday the AI industry bellwether has enough supply to

accommodate robust growth in central processing units (CPUs) and

graphics processing units (GPUs), but acknowledged that supply

constraints remain a concern.

South Korean equities were especially erratic, with the

benchmark KOSPI swinging sharply lower after hitting a record

high as bellwethers like Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) and SK

Hynix flipped between gains and losses.

South Korea's consumer price data were also thrown into the mix

for markets, with inflation quickening in May to a more than

two-year high, and bolstering expectations for a rate hike next

month. Last week, the Bank of Korea signalled an imminent turn

towards a more restrictive policy stance to curb inflation and

support a slumping won.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's

strength against a basket of six currencies, held steady at

99.15, firmly within the tight range it has sat in for the past

three weeks.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond was down 4.5 basis

points at 4.43%. Gold was up 0.9% at $4,523.58 in choppy

trade.

Cryptocurrencies fell to two-month lows. Bitcoin was off

1.1% at $70,599.26, while ether slid 0.5% to $1,992.04.