The Taiwan stock market has surpassed the UK to become the world’s seventh-largest market amid the AI investment boom, with its latest total market capitalization reaching US$4.13 trillion (HK$32.21 trillion).
The UK’s total market capitalization is at US$4.09 trillion. According to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s data, the Hong Kong stock market has a total market capitalization of HK$48.3 trillion, ranking fourth globally.
The Financial Times, citing Bloomberg data, reported that Taiwan's latest market capitalization has overtaken the UK. The heavyweight stock, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, with a market capitalization of approximately US$1.95 trillion, alone accounts for 45 percent of the total market value.
TSMC recently announced record-breaking first-quarter results, with net profit rising 58 percent year on year to T$572.5 billion (HK$141.84 billion), beating market expectations, while revenue grew 35 percent to T$1.13 trillion.
TSMC chief executive Wei Che-Chia stated that the company will do everything possible to ensure customer product demand is supported. Earlier, the company indicated that customers are currently facing chip shortages and will accelerate capital expenditures to meet AI demand.
William Bratton, head of cash equity research for Asia-Pacific at BNP Paribas, described Taiwan's stock market as a technology and AI supercycle. He noted that apart from ASML, most stocks in the UK and the European Union have almost no exposure to this supercycle. He also predicted that as the AI uptrend continues, the South Korean stock market will become even more prominent and may also surpass the UK.
Bloomberg data indicates the global stock market rankings are led by the United States, with China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Canada, and Taiwan following. The South Korean stock market has a total market capitalization of US$3.7 trillion, ranking behind the UK.
