Korea Crushes Global Benchmarks With Best Stock Rally Since 1999

(Bloomberg) — South Korea’s stock market renaissance in 2025 was one for the history books. Buoyed by world-beating gains in arms exporters to eye-popping surge in AI and K-beauty shares, the market just capped its strongest advance in a quarter century. The Kospi (^KS11) Index has soared 76% this year, compared with the S&P 500’s 17% advance so far and MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 25% gain. The Korean benchmark’s performance, the best among major equity gauges, has been helped by chip heavyweights Samsung E ...