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    Everyone watches the S&P 500… but South Korea just crushed global markets (+78% ). Why?

    2025 was a green year for most countries, with solid gains everywhere. But amid the bull run, returns varied wildly and South Korea crushed it with +77.8%. Just wow! But why?

    Breaking it down:

    • Semiconductor mega-rebound (the big driver): Korea's market is all about semis. Samsung (+155%) and SK Hynix (+275%) dominate the KOSPI. 2025 brought a huge DRAM/NAND cycle recovery, fueled by AI, data centers, GPUs, cloud, and edge computing. SK Hynix nailed it as Nvidia's key HBM supplier!
    • South Korea underperformed US/Europe 2021-2024: Set up for massive catch-up. Investors chased value, and Korea delivered big time.
    • Rotation to ex-US markets: Korea checks every box:tech, industrial, export-focused, liquid. Perfect for ditching overpriced US stocks.
    • Weak won + export boost: KRW stayed soft, supercharging export-heavy firms with higher margins, earnings beats, and stock re-ratings.
    • Concentrated market amps up % gains: Fewer mega-caps, but giants like these explode the overall cap.

    Quick shoutout to Spain's +64.5% killer run, thanks to:

    • Booming banks (IBEX heavyweight, low rates juicing lending)
    • ~3% GDP surge (beating Euro peers on jobs/investment)
    • Tourism explosion (post-COVID come back)
    • Infrastructure boom (EU funds for housing/projects)
    • Credit upgrades (Moody's/Fitch/S&P drawing investors)
    • Edge in cheap energy/resilient exports

    You invested in Korean stocks last year. How about now? What stocks (Samsung, SK Hynix)?
    And what country are you betting on for 2026 to pull off something similar?

    Rank Country / Region Market Capitalization Growth
    1 South Korea 77.8%
    2 Spain 64.5%
    3 South Africa 50.5%
    4 Italy 42.0%
    5 Mexico 41.0%
    6 Brazil 36.1%
    7 Hong Kong 35.5%
    8 Canada 35.3%
    9 China 33.7%
    10 Taiwan 32.5%
    11 European Union 31.3%
    12 Singapore 30.1%
    13 Switzerland 29.4%
    14 Netherlands 29.1%
    15 Sweden 29.0%
    16 Germany 28.6%
    17 United Kingdom 24.5%
    18 France 22.8%
    19 World 20.5%
    20 Japan 19.9%
    21 Australia 17.7%
    22 United States 15.3%
    23 India 2.6%

    Market capitalization growth from December 2024 to December 2025

    Everyone watches the S&P 500… but South Korea just crushed global markets (+78% ). Why?
    byu/AnxiousIllustrator90 instocks



    Posted by AnxiousIllustrator90

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    14 Comments

    1. AnxiousIllustrator90 on

      I unfortunately missed quite a few Korean opportunities, especially SK Hynix, but now it’s still at valuations that are too high to build a position… I’ll definitely keep an eye on the South Korean market.

    2. lev10bard on

      Funny how you people think Taiwan is uninvestable due to the risk of war with China while South Korea is literally land bordered with a crazy dude that can actually stir shit up.

    3. TheSixthNonsense on

      Korean index is reeeally top heavy, and iirc the top two happened to be two out of three major memory manufacturers in the world. And we are in a memory shortage due to data center demand.

    8. zusite_emu on

      Over the long term, I’m only comfortable investing in the US and Canada. 0 interest in the EU and emerging market.

    9. lkh9596 on

      I think Samsung electronics and SK Hynix are the reasons why the Korean index is riding high. Look at their market cap compared to the rest of the companies in the index.

    10. Antique-Cheesecake63 on

      I’ve been in South Korean markets and Japanese for a while they’re super accessible I’ll just throw a few bones in it once and awhile

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