As the share prices of chip giants on which global artificial intelligence construction relies continue to soar, the South Korean stock market has surpassed the Indian stock market and ranked sixth in the world. Data compiled by Bloomberg show that the total market value of companies listed in South Korea has soared 86% this year, reaching US$5 trillion, while the total market value of companies listed in India has dropped to US$4.8 trillion.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the new members of the trillion-dollar market capitalization club, are the main drivers of the rise in Korean stocks. With their dominance in the field of AI memory chips, South Korea's KOSPI index will rise by more than 100% in 2026. The Korean stock market has surpassed the Canadian, German, British and French stock markets this year.
"For a market that not long ago set an ambitious KOSPI target of 5,000 points, catching up with India is a significant milestone," said Ross McGarry, senior investment analyst at Asset Value Investors. "However, much of this year's rally can be attributed to the storage cycle - with Samsung and SK Hynix taking the lead. The real test will be whether South Korea can sustain this revaluation momentum through real corporate governance reforms."
In contrast, India's stock market has been troubled by factors such as the depreciation of the rupee, record foreign capital outflows, and a lack of companies directly related to AI infrastructure.
Although the market capitalization of South Korea's stock market has surpassed that of India, India's US$4.15 trillion economy is still larger than South Korea's US$1.93 trillion, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).