AI boom reshuffles global stock market pecking order as South Korea and Taiwan surge
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- Taiwan overtook Canada to become the world’s sixth‑largest stock market, with a market cap of $4.7 trillion, up from 12th place in 2004.
- South Korea leapfrogged the United Kingdom into eighth place, now valued at $4.4 trillion.
- TSMC now represents more than 40 % of Taiwan’s total market capitalization, making the index a de‑facto AI and semiconductor proxy.
- Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together account for a record 42.2 % of the South Korea Kospi, highlighting extreme concentration in AI‑hardware stocks.
- Foreign investors withdrew roughly $13 billion from South Korean equities last week, triggering a sharp dip and raising concentration‑risk concerns.
Why it matters: Investors in AI‑linked chips benefit from soaring market caps—TSMC >40 % of Taiwan, Samsung+SK Hynix 42 % of Korea—while pension funds and diversified portfolios face heightened concentration risk and potential sharp corrections.
