Taiwan Stock Market Surpasses UK's at $4.3 Trillion

Taiwan's stock market has surpassed the United Kingdom's in valuation, reaching nearly 4.3 trillion U.S. dollars and becoming the world's seventh-largest equity market, propelled by the global artificial intelligence boom and surging demand for semiconductors.

The milestone, achieved earlier this month, marks a rapid ascent for Taiwan and neighboring South Korea, whose market trails the U.K. by about 140 billion dollars. In just seven months, both Asian markets have overtaken those of Germany and France, according to market data trackers. The shift stems from explosive gains in shares of key semiconductor firms, which have positioned Asia as a cornerstone of the AI supply chain. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, now boasts a market capitalization of 1.8 trillion dollars after its stock rose more than 40 percent this year. South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have seen even steeper climbs of over 80 percent each, combining for 1.5 trillion dollars in value. These companies supply critical components to AI leaders like Nvidia, fueling data centers, chatbots and high-performance computing.