* Nvidia ( NVDA ) earnings beat expectation, lift Asian suppliers

* Tankers with 6 million barrels of crude pass through

Strait of Hormuz

* Samsung shares surge as union halts threatened strike

at 11th hour

By Gregor Stuart Hunter

SINGAPORE, May 21 (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Thursday as

some vessels resumed passage through the Strait of Hormuz, while

forecast-beating results at Nvidia ( NVDA ) and a suspended workers'

strike at Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) lifted shares of chipmakers.

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

climbed 1.2%, snapping a four-day streak of

losses as the KOSPI surged more than 4%.

Brent crude futures edged up 0.7% to $105.76 a

barrel in Asia trade, retracing declines after three

supertankers passed through the strait on Wednesday and Iran

consolidated its control of the waterway.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.1%, while the

Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.5% after three days of

declines, as President Donald Trump said the United States was

ready to proceed with further attacks on Iran if Tehran did not

agree to a peace deal, but suggested Washington could wait a few

days to "get the right answers."

"Oil prices declined and other major markets rallied, as

investors took comfort from headlines quoting Trump saying the

U.S. was in the 'final stages' with Iran," analysts from Westpac

wrote in a research report.

Asian chipmakers' shares rose after Nvidia's ( NVDA )

better-than-expected revenue forecast on Wednesday as CEO Jensen

Huang aimed to reassure investors that the world's most valuable

company can sustain blockbuster growth in demand for its

flagship AI chips.

"The chip landscape remains Nvidia's ( NVDA ) world with everybody

else paying rent, as more sovereigns and enterprises wait in

line for Nvidia's ( NVDA ) chips," said Dan Ives, global head of

technology research at Wedbush Securities in New York.

However, Nvidia's ( NVDA ) shares fell 1.1% in extended trading,

while S&P 500 e-mini futures slipped 0.5%.

"The market's reaction was relatively muted by its own lofty

standards," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

"The lack of any China sales in the outlook and guidance that

was only modestly ahead of expectations left some investors

wanting a bit more fireworks."

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) shares surged more

than 6% after the electronics giant's union said it would

suspend industrial action upon reaching a tentative pay deal

with the company, averting a strike by nearly 48,000 workers

that threatened South Korea's economy and global chip supply.

Japan's Nikkei 225 share index was up 1.9% after S&P

Global's flash manufacturing PMI expanded at a slower pace than

a month earlier, slipping to 54.5 in May from 55.1 the previous

month.

Separately, Japanese exports rose 14.8% year-on-year in

April, finance ministry data showed, rising for an eighth

straight month and confounding fears of stagflation in the

global economy.

Australian shares were up 1.5% despite a mixed set

of leading indicators. Flash PMI data showed activity in the

country's service industry slowed to 47.7 in May from 50.7 a

month earlier, though a corresponding manufacturing gauge held

at 50.2, just above the mark separating expansion from

contraction.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yield rose 1.9 basis points

to 4.588%, resuming its climb after snapping a three-day streak

of declines on Wednesday. Minutes from the Federal Reserve's

April 28-29 meeting showed policymakers' concerns about

inflation intensified last month, with a growing number open to

the possibility that they may need to raise interest rates.

Bitcoin was down 0.3% at $77,453.44, while ether

was 0.3% lower at $2,127.53.