The restructuring of global markets is accelerating as the AI revolution accelerates
A Wall Street bull stands on the financial block near the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 18, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
A global reshaping of stock market positions is underway, with artificial intelligence redrawing the stock market bankruptcy system and propelling Taiwan and South Korea past several long-established Western bosses.
Taiwan has overtaken Canada to become the world’s sixth-largest stock market, while South Korea has leapfrogged the UK into eighth place, according to HSBC data that tracks equity-market benchmarks. It’s the latest demonstration of how the AI boom is concentrating market power in economies that sit at the center of the semiconductor supply chain.
Taiwan’s stock market was the 12th largest in the world in 2004, worth about $500 billion. South Korea ranks 13th at $400 billion. Today, these two markets are worth $4.7 trillion and $4.4 trillion respectively. The top five are the US, China, Japan, Hong Kong and India.
A rescue like this is not unheard of. China entered the top tier of global markets in the late 2000s, while India overtook Hong Kong in late 2023 before falling back below it.
That said, the rise of South Korea and Taiwan is remarkable.
“What’s unusual here is the speed and how small the drivers are,” said Billy Leung, global investment strategist at Global X ETFs. “A 10-point turnaround happens almost every cycle, but it’s usually after a housing boom, a big IPO, or several years of poor performance.”
The rally was inspired by an unusual round of funding for several AI-related firms. TSMC alone now makes up more than 40% of Taiwan’s market capitalization, while Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together make up a record 42.2% of South Korea’s Kospi index.
Top 10 turnovers happen in almost every cycle but are usually after a housing boom, a big IPO, or years of outperformance.
“Both indices have become AI and semiconductor proxies,” said June Chua, head of Asia equities at Manulife Investment Management.
Goldman Sachs’ chief regional strategist for Asia-Pacific equities, Tim Moe, agreed.
“It’s the theme of the AI hardware that’s obviously what keeps things going.” The shift toward agent AI has created an “explosion of so-called token demand,” creating a supply shortage that’s driving incredible pricing power for chipmakers, he said.
That can also make benefits vulnerable to reversal. South Korean stocks fell late last week after foreign investors dumped $13 billion worth of local stocks, prompting sharp volatility in the benchmark index. This also comes as shares of Samsung Electronics, a heavyweight on the Kospi, have suffered as investors monitor labor negotiations and a possible strike.
“We are now reaching levels where many Asian portfolios are starting to face distress risk, which means more exposure to a smaller number of stocks in the region,” said HSBC’s head of equity strategy for Asia-Pacific, Herald van der Linde. “That could limit further upside.”
That downside risk has also prompted comparisons with markets such as Saudi Arabia and Denmark, where benchmark indices are dominated by Aramco and Novo Nordisk respectively.
Danish shares came under pressure as concerns grew over declining demand for an obesity treatment produced by Novo Nordisk, while the Saudi Arabian market, largely driven by Saudi Aramco, weakened along with lower crude prices. Saudi shares have since recovered part of those losses as oil prices have risen.
