Korea’s AI chip market is now the opening bell for global stocks

https://media.thenextweb.com/2026/07/south-korea-kospi-ai-stocks-global-markets-sk-hynix.avif

TL;DR

Korea’s market now sets global AI sentiment. The Kospi-Nasdaq correlation has nearly tripled. SK Hynix’s US listing extended Korea’s influence into 24-hour trading.

Fund managers in London, New York, and Tokyo have added a new step to their morning routine: checking South Korean stocks. Korea’s $4 trillion equity market is now offering an early read on global AI risk appetite, as swings in SK Hynix and Samsung ripple through chip stocks worldwide. “We are all Korean investors now,” said Hani Redha, a London-based portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments. JPMorgan Asset Management’s chief Asia market strategist presented on Korea to the firm’s global team for the first time in his 14 years on the job.

The data confirms it. The 60-day correlation between the Kospi and the Nasdaq 100 has climbed to 0.46, near the highest in two years and almost triple its five-year average of 0.16. The...

Copyright of this story solely belongs to thenextweb.com. To see the full text click HERE

Read more