Seoul stocks fell just short of reclaiming the 7,000 mark on Thursday, as Nvidia’s stronger-than-expected earnings fueled an early rally before the Bank of Korea’s (BOK) rate hike tempered gains. The benchmark KOSPI opened at 6,996.12, up 2.76 percent from the previous session, after Nvidia reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $96.2 billion, up 106 percent from a year earlier and above Wall Street estimates. The results reinforced expectations that artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investment and semiconductor demand remain intact, lifting chip stocks across the Korean market. However, gains narrowed sharply around 10 a.m. following the central bank's decision to raise its benchmark interest rate from 2.75 percent to 3 percent. KOSPI later recovered some ground, but closed at 6,912.37, up 1.53 percent. Foreign and institutional investors were net buyers, purchasing 152.4 billion won ($111 million) and 177.6 billion won, respectively. Retail investors, by contrast, sold a net 1.91 trillion won. The two semiconductor heavyweights also finished higher, with Samsung Electr