Ranked! The Power Index
The AI chip supercycle has turned South Korea's KOSPI into the world's runaway stock market. Up 62% year to date — even after a 25% crash from its June record.
Monday · July 20, 2026
RANKED!

The Power Index

Today's Ranking

The 10 Best-Performing Stock Markets in 2026, So Far

The AI chip supercycle has turned South Korea’s KOSPI into the world’s runaway stock market. Up 62% year to date — even after a 25% crash from its June record — it leads a ranking dominated by Asian exchanges. Local-currency price returns, January 1 through July 16, 2026.

1 South Korea
 
+61.8%
2 Taiwan
   
+57.5%
3 Thailand
   
+30.0%
4 Turkey
   
+29.2%
5 Japan
   
+25.6%
6 Austria
   
+24.9%
7 Italy
   
+20.6%
8 Poland
   
+15.8%
9 Spain
   
+11.0%
10 United States
   
+10.1%
Gold · #1    25%+ growth    Below 25%
For Comparison
Brazil +7.9%   |   Germany +1.6%   |   India −9.4%   |   China −2.1%   |   Indonesia −29.4%   |   Mexico +3.2%

Source: National stock exchange closing prices via Trading Economics, Yahoo Finance, Taipei Times. Local-currency price returns, Jan 1 – Jul 16, 2026.

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Ranked! The Power Index
What's Surprising

The United States invented the AI trade. Nvidia is in Santa Clara. Microsoft is in Redmond. Apple is in Cupertino. The S&P 500 is up 10%. South Korea’s KOSPI is up 62%.

The cause is the memory-chip supercycle. Every AI server requires high-bandwidth memory, and two companies dominate supply: SK Hynix, up 307% year to date through June, and Samsung Electronics, up 181%. Together they account for a large share of the KOSPI’s total market cap. One industrial theme is carrying an entire national index.

Austria at #6 is the quieter surprise. The ATX is bank-heavy, and Austrian banks have large loan books across Central and Eastern Europe. As that region booms — Poland is #8 on the same list — the banks ride along. There is no tech story in Vienna. Just credit flowing east.

What's Not Surprising

Four of the top five markets are Asian. Taiwan at #2 is driven by TSMC, which fabricates most of the world’s advanced AI processors. Japan at #5 benefits from its own semiconductor equipment makers. The Asian supply chain for artificial intelligence is the dominant theme in global equity markets this year. It is not subtle.

The bottom of the comparison row tells the other half of the story. Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite has fallen 29.4% year to date. The rupiah has hit all-time lows. Foreign investors have pulled billions. India is down sharply. China is negative. Not all of Asia is winning — only the slice of it connected to the chip-fabrication pipeline.

Germany, the largest economy in Europe, is up 1.6%. France is in the same range. The U.S. is at 10%. 2026 is the year the semiconductor supply chain separated from everything else.

Five Numbers Worth Remembering

9,114.55

The KOSPI’s record close on June 22. By mid-July, it had fallen 25% from that peak.

 

307%

SK Hynix’s share-price gain through June 2026. One memory chipmaker, one supercycle.

 

7

Circuit breakers triggered on the KOSPI in 2026. No other major index comes close.

 

320%

Goldman Sachs’ 2026 earnings-growth forecast for KOSPI companies. The strongest in Asia since 1999.

 

−29.4%

Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite decline YTD. The rupiah and the stock market are in freefall.

The Bottom Line

The countries building the AI chips have lapped the countries buying them. South Korea has nearly matched the S&P 500’s entire three-year gain — in under seven months.

What to Watch

Samsung Electronics reports earnings on July 31. If memory-chip margins beat expectations, the KOSPI rally may resume. If they disappoint, another circuit breaker is not out of the question. Taiwan’s TSMC reported on July 16 with record revenue, but the TAIEX barely moved — a sign the good news may be priced in. Indonesia’s central bank is intervening to support the rupiah. Watch for capital controls. We’ll be watching.

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