* Oil prices slide as U.S.-Iran talks go nowhere, Trump

arrives in China to meet Xi later

* Kospi rebounds to record close, leading regional

benchmarks

* Samsung shares dip after union wage talks fail, strikes

loom

(Refreshes markets, recasts, adds quotes in fourth and sixth

pars)

By Gregor Stuart Hunter

SINGAPORE, May 13 (Reuters) - Asian stocks found their

footing after an initial selloff on Wednesday, helped by a

turnaround in Korean shares as revived AI optimism dwarfed

concerns about stalled talks between Washington and Tehran and

hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation.

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

was up 0.3% after rebounding from an earlier

decline of as much as 1%. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.8%,

while S&P 500 e-mini futures tacked on 0.2%.

Korean shares fell as much as 3.2% on news Samsung

Electronics ( SSNLF ) had failed to reach a pay deal with its union before

rebounding 2.6% to a record close on reports the government was

seeking to manage the situation.

The Korean market has been on a tear in recent weeks,

breaching records regularly on an AI-led rally that some traders

say was ripe for a pullback.

"Robust AI-led exports by South Korea - and to a lesser

extent, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia - are buffering the energy

price shock," analysts from Nomura wrote in a research report.

The conflict in the Middle East remained in a stalemate, as U.S.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he does not think he will

need China's help to end the war with Iran, ahead of his meeting

with President Xi Jinping later this week.

"The U.S.-China summit could trigger moderate index upside if

the truce extends," Morgan Stanley said in a research note,

lifting its price targets on several Chinese benchmarks. It

noted improved earnings, growing supply chain dominance and a

stronger yuan.

The bank also upgraded its recommendation on developed

market equities to overweight. "Uncertainties driven by the

conflict in the Middle East drive a wider-than-average range of

return outcomes, but the micro and macro fundamentals are

largely supportive," the bank added. "AI and capex related to AI

will remain pertinent across asset classes and regions."

Other investors expressed scepticism that Trump and Xi's meeting

would lead to significantly improved relations.

"We've seen this movie before, and we know it doesn't end

with a breakthrough agreement that resets the U.S.-China

relationship," said Phillip Wool, chief research officer and

head of portfolio management at Rayliant Investment Research.

"That creates a pretty low bar for success: As long as Trump

and Xi can get along and the trade detente continues, that

should be enough to count this meeting as a win for both sides."

Brent crude was down 1.4% at $106.32, snapping a

three-day rally. Oil prices have held at or above $100 a barrel

since late February, when U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and

Tehran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz rattled

supply.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) shares plunged as much

as 6.1% after the electronics behemoth failed to reach a pay

deal with its South Korean labour union on Wednesday, setting

the stage for more than 50,000 workers to go ahead with a full

strike. However, the stock later rose 1.8% after South Korean

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said the government would support

talks to prevent a strike "under any circumstances," Yonhap News

Agency reported.

Stocks on Wall Street fell on Tuesday, with the S&P 500

0.2% lower and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.7% after U.S.

consumer inflation increased by the most in three years in

April, raising the risk the Federal Reserve will be forced to

raise rates earlier than expected.

Markets have largely priced out any chance of a rate cut from

the Fed this year, while expectations for a hike of at least 25

basis points at the December meeting have risen to over 35% from

below 22% earlier in the week, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond was down 1.0 basis

points at 4.459%, edging back after hitting the highest level

since July.

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

strength against a basket of six major peers, held steady at

98.369, on track for its third consecutive day of gains.

Against the yen, the dollar traded 0.1% firmer at 157.73

after the Japanese currency briefly spiked Tuesday on "rate

check" speculation, often seen as a precursor to intervention.

Markets are on edge for any action by Tokyo after sources

said authorities had intervened in the past two weeks to arrest

the yen's decline.

In early European trades, pan-region futures were up

0.9%, German DAX futures rose 0.8% and FTSE futures

gained 0.6%.

Elsewhere, gold was down 0.1% at $4,708.24, while bitcoin

was up 0.5% at $81,110.13 and ether nudged up 0.8%

to $2,301.66.