Overview
- The shift was reported on Tuesday after Korea’s combined exchanges climbed to about $5 trillion in market value, overtaking India’s roughly $4.8–4.85 trillion.
- Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the rally with valuations that pushed each toward or above $1 trillion as investors chased AI‑infrastructure exposure.
- Taiwan had already moved ahead of India last week driven by TSMC, leaving India to fall from fifth to seventh in global market‑cap rankings.
- Large foreign portfolio outflows from India—about $26 billion so far in 2026—plus a weak rupee and few listed AI‑hardware plays have amplified the market decline.
- Analysts warn the gains are concentrated in a handful of chip names, which raises risks for index concentration and means sustaining the re‑rating will depend on corporate governance, policy choices and ongoing chip demand.