As AI spending links the fortunes of US tech giants and South Korean memory chip makers, the correlation between US tech stocks and the South Korean stock market is getting higher. According to data provided by asset management company Rayliant, the 60-day correlation between Korea's composite KOSPI and Nasdaq 100 recently climbed to around 0.50, the highest level since 2021. This growing relationship reflects the growing dominance of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for more than half the weight of Korea's comprehensive KOSPI stock index. Both companies are at the center of the AI hardware supply chain, supplying the required memory chips for data centers operated by US tech giants. Futurum Group analyst Barker said, “Since the KOSPI stock index has basically become a semiconductor index, its correlation with US technology stocks has increased dramatically. This increased correlation also comes with risks.”

As AI spending links the fortunes of US tech giants and South Korean memory chip makers, the correlation between US tech stocks and the South Korean stock market is getting higher. According to data provided by asset management company Rayliant, the 60-day correlation between Korea's composite KOSPI and Nasdaq 100 recently climbed to around 0.50, the highest level since 2021. This growing relationship reflects the growing dominance of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for more than half the weight of Korea's comprehensive KOSPI stock index. Both companies are at the center of the AI hardware supply chain, supplying the required memory chips for data centers operated by US tech giants. Futurum Group analyst Barker said, “Since the KOSPI stock index has basically become a semiconductor index, its correlation with US technology stocks has increased dramatically. This increased correlation also comes with risks.”