Global market reordering is accelerating as the AI rally gains pace
Global market reordering is accelerating as the AI rally gains pace
Publish Date: 2026-05-19 22:38:00
Source Domain: www.cnbc.com
The Wall Street bull stands in the financial district near the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 18, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
A global reshuffling in stock-market hierarchy is underway, with artificial intelligence redrawing the pecking order of equity markets and propelling Taiwan and South Korea past several long-established Western bourses.
Taiwan has overtaken Canada to become the world’s sixth-largest stock market, while South Korea has leapfrogged the U.K. into eighth place, according to HSBC data tracking global equity-market capitalization rankings. It’s the latest demonstration of how the AI boom is concentrating market power in economies sitting at the center of the semiconductor supply chain.
Taiwan’s stock market was only the world’s 12th largest in 2004, worth roughly $500 billion. South Korea ranked 13th at $400 billion. Today, the two markets are valued at $4.7 trillion and $4.4 trillion respectively. The top five are the U.S., China, Japan, Hong Kong and India.
A reshuffling like this isn’t unprecedented. China entered the top tier of global markets in the late 2000s, while India surpassed Hong Kong in late 2023 before falling back below it.
That said, the ascent of South Korea and Taiwan is striking.
“What is unusual here is the speed and how narrow the drivers are,” said Billy Leung, global investment strategist at Global X ETFs. “Top 10 reshuffles happen roughly every cycle, but usually on the back of a domestic boom, a big IPO, or many years of outperformance.”
The rally has been driven by an extraordinary concentration of capital into a handful of AI-linked firms. TSMC alone now accounts for 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 reshuffles happen roughly every cycle but usually on the back of a domestic boom, a big IPO, or many years of outperformance.
“Both indices have effectively become AI and…
