Hong Kong media outlet HK01 reported on the 2nd that South Korea's stock market capitalization has surpassed India to become the 6th largest in the world.

According to the article, following Taiwan recently surpassing India to become the world's 5th largest in stock market capitalization, South Korea also recently surpassed India to rise to the world's 6th position.

According to a report citing Bloomberg, South Korea's stock market capitalization has increased by 86% this year, reaching 5 trillion dollars (approximately 800 trillion yen). Meanwhile, India's stock market capitalization decreased to 4.8 trillion dollars (approximately 768 trillion yen).

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix newly entered the 1 trillion dollar (approximately 160 trillion yen) market capitalization club, leading the rise in the South Korean market. Backed by their dominant position in memory semiconductors for artificial intelligence (AI), they pushed the year-to-date rise of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) to over 100%.

According to Ross McGarry, Senior Investment Analyst at Asset Value Investors, approaching India is a remarkable milestone for South Korea, which until recently had targeted KOSPI exceeding 5000. This year's bull market is largely supported by the memory market cycle. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have been responsible for most of the market's rise. The real test is whether South Korea can sustain this re-rating through substantial corporate governance reforms.

Meanwhile, the Indian market is weighed down by a weaker rupee, record-high outflows of foreign investor funds, and a lack of companies directly related to AI infrastructure.

Although South Korea has surpassed India in market capitalization, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India's economic size of 4.15 trillion dollars (approximately 664 trillion yen) still significantly exceeds South Korea's 1.93 trillion dollars (approximately 308.8 trillion yen). (Translation/Editing by Yanagawa)