* Oil futures notch three-week peak on Iran worries

* Kospi, Nikkei, Taiwan stocks mark record highs on AI

optimism

* 44% of S&P 500 by market cap due to report this week

* Central banks in Japan, US, UK, Europe and Canada seen

on hold

(Updates prices)

By Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE, April 27 (Reuters) - Oil climbed on Monday as

stalled U.S.-Iran peace talks prolonged the disruption of Middle

East energy exports, while renewed excitement about artificial

intelligence spending drove up chip stocks at the beginning of a

week where war, central banks and tech earnings are in focus.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose around 2% to

touch a three-week high of $107.97 a barrel in Asia trade, a

level that has stoked inflation worries and prompted traders to

all but price out rate cuts in developed markets this year.

S&P 500 futures wobbled in the Asia session but

tacked on small gains of around 0.2% after markets in Taiwan

, Tokyo and Seoul followed Wall Street to

notch record highs on a new wave of AI optimism.

Currency trading was broadly steady - with the euro

at $1.1724 and yen at 159.32 per dollar. Bond markets

were calm ahead of central bank meetings in Japan, the U.S.,

Britain, Europe, Canada and a smattering of emerging markets.

While a ceasefire has frozen most fighting in the war

triggered by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran two months ago,

markets are focused on the shuttered Strait of Hormuz, where

barely any ships carrying oil and gas have transited.

The average LNG price for June delivery into northeast Asia

was $16.70 per million British thermal units last week,

nearly 61% above pre-war levels.

Goldman Sachs analysts lifted year-end oil price forecasts

sharply from $80 to $90 a barrel for Brent, and even that rests

on normalisation of Gulf exports by the end of June.

"Non-linear price increases are likely if inventories drop

to critically low levels, which we have not seen in the last few

decades," they warned in a note.

U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled a trip to Islamabad by

U.S. envoys for talks on the weekend, but investors were buoyed

slightly by an Axios report saying Iran wants to make a deal on

opening the strait first and postpone nuclear talks until later.

RATES AND HYPERSCALERS EARNINGS

Beyond oil derivatives and the even more stretched physical

market where jet fuel fetches $185 a barrel in Singapore

, equity investors have hoped for a breakthrough and

tried to look past the oil shock to an AI trend that is seen as

unstoppable.

"AI is something that people are very optimistic about and

very much considered a winner," said Mike Seidenberg, senior

portfolio manager for Allianz Technology Trust.

"It's the top of the portfolio."

Intel's ( INTC ) forecast for second-quarter revenue above

Wall Street expectations last week set off the latest round of

buying that has pushed the total value of the chip-maker-heavy

stock markets in Taiwan and South Korea above Germany's.

U.S. tech earnings headline the week ahead, with 44% of the

S&P 500 by market cap due to report and the focus on capex at

Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet, Amazon ( AMZN ) and Meta

Platforms ( META ) which report on Wednesday. Apple ( AAPL )

reports on Thursday.

Major central banks are expected to stay on hold this week,

though aggressive bets on future rate hikes in Britain and

Europe could be tested if policymakers strike a cautious tone.

The Bank of Japan is the first off the rank and is expected

to keep its short-term policy rate steady at 0.75% on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve is also expected to leave rates where

they are at what is likely to be Jerome Powell's final meeting

in the chair.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England are likewise

expected to hold, but their tone and outlook could challenge

market pricing for both banks to make two 25-basis-point hikes

later in the year.