Korea's stock market capitalization has surpassed Germany and Taiwan to rank eighth in the world. The surge continued recently as the KOSPI broke 5,000 and the KOSDAQ topped 1,000.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) information data system on the 8th, as of the closing price on the 6th, the combined market capitalization of the three markets—KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and KONEX—was 4,799.3607 trillion won.
According to the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), as of Dec. last year, the Korea Exchange (KRX) ranked 13th in market capitalization by exchange worldwide. At the time, the top exchange by market cap was Nasdaq at $37.5 trillion, followed by the New York Stock Exchange ($31.4 trillion) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange in China ($9.3 trillion).
Ahead of Korea in 13th were the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 11th ($3 trillion) and the Deutsche Börse in 12th ($2.8986 trillion). At the time, the Korea Exchange (KRX) market capitalization was $2.7566 trillion.
By country, Korea ranked 10th in market capitalization after the United States, China, the European Union (EU), Japan, Hong Kong, India, Canada, Taiwan, and Germany.
However, as the KOSPI and KOSDAQ surged this year, the rankings flipped quickly. From the start of the year through the 6th, the KOSPI rose 20.8% and the KOSDAQ gained 16.8%, marking the No. 1 and No. 3 increases among major national benchmark indexes. Over the same period, Germany's DAX 30 and Taiwan's TAIEX posted gains of 0.94% and 9.73%, respectively.
There are also projections that domestic indexes will continue to rise for the time being. Global investment bank (IB) JPMorgan raised its KOSPI target to 6,000 early this month and said it could reach 7,500 in a bull market. NH Investment & Securities also lifted its 12-month KOSPI target from 5,500 to 7,300.