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Taiwan's stock market capitalization overtook the United Kingdom to become the seventh-largest in the world, driven by a wave of investment in AI and demand for chips from Taiwan's TSMC. Bloomberg data show Taiwan's total market capitalization reached $4.13 trillion on Thursday, April 16, higher than the UK's $4.09 trillion. The main driver is the AI wave, with many companies in the space relying on chips from TSMC, which currently accounts for about 45% of Taiwan's total market cap. 'This is a supercycle of technology and AI,' said William Bratton, head of Asia-Pacific equity research at BNP Paribas, in an interview with the Financial Times. Taiwan's rally comes as TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, reported record first-quarter results. Net profit rose 58% year-on-year to NT$572.5 billion ($18 billion), beating analysts’ expectations. Revenue rose 35% to NT$1,134.1 billion. Since the start of the year, TSMC's shares have surged about one-third and reached an all-time high; the company now has a market capitalization of NT$54.07 trillion (about $1.75 trillion). In January, TSMC said it would accelerate capital expenditure to meet rising chip demand as many customers still faced supply constraints. 'We are using every measure, everywhere, to maximize our ability to support customers on all platforms,' said CEO CC Wei. With AI chip demand rising sharply, TSMC warned this year's capex could near the upper end of its guidance of $52-56 billion. Wei forecast full-year revenue to rise by more than 30%, above earlier projections. Over the past year, much of Asia's stock-market gains have come from TSMC as well as Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea. Bratton noted that, in reality, the UK and much of Europe have few listed firms directly benefiting from this AI upcycle, except ASML of the Netherlands; if AI momentum continues, Korea could be the next notable market and potentially overtake the UK. Bloomberg data show Korea ranks just behind the UK with a market cap of about $3.7 trillion. Markets ahead of Taiwan include the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, and Canada. Bloomberg’s data primarily cover domestic listings and exclude secondary listings, ADRs, and ETFs; thus, on a broader basis, the London market remains larger than Taiwan. Year-to-date, the FTSE 100 has risen 6.1%, far below Taiwan’s Taiex gain of 26.5%.
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