Nigeria Slips to Third as South Korea Reclaims World’s Top Stock Market Spot

Nigeria Slips to Third as South Korea Reclaims World’s Top Stock Market Spot
Ghana now ranks second globally as South Korean equities rebound sharply
Nigeria has lost its position as the world’s best-performing stock market, just five weeks after taking the global crown from South Korea, following a sharp rebound in Korean equities.
Data covering 92 global stock exchanges tracked by Bloomberg showed that, as of August 14, South Korea’s Kospi had gained 68.52 percent year-to-date in dollar terms, placing it ahead of Ghana’s Composite Index at 66.68 percent and the Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index at 65.23 percent.
Nigeria took the top position on July 10, when its dollar-denominated market returns briefly overtook South Korea’s, extending a strong rally that had made the Nigerian market one of the world’s best performers in 2026.
The latest reversal highlights how quickly global stock market leadership can change, particularly as South Korean equities recover from a sharp selloff in July.
South Korea’s sharp rebound
South Korea’s stock market has returned to a technical bull market just two weeks after suffering a severe downturn.
On Thursday, the benchmark Kospi closed four percent higher, putting the index about 23 percent above its July 30 low and meeting the widely used definition of a technical bull market, according to Yahoo Finance.
The turnaround has been remarkably swift. The Kospi had plunged about 40 percent from its June 22 peak to its July 30 trough, with losses in index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix intensifying the selloff.
On the same Thursday, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix closed more than five percent and seven percent higher respectively, as renewed optimism over artificial-intelligence-driven demand for memory chips lifted semiconductor stocks.
The rebound has been supported by renewed global interest in AI-related equities. However, investors remain cautious about the substantial gains already recorded by South Korean chipmakers and concerns over whether the semiconductor sector may be approaching a peak.
Fundstrat Global Advisors said last week that the recovery in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix could provide further momentum for the broader South Korean market.
Mark Newton, head of technical strategy at Fundstrat, said the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF had broken through key technical levels as the country’s major memory-chip stocks recovered, improving the near-term outlook for South Korean equities.
Analysts at Macquarie Capital said the steep July losses appeared to have been driven more by investor positioning and fund flows than by a deterioration in market fundamentals.
Foreign and institutional selling has stabilised since late July, while margin financing remains at reasonable levels, according to the bank’s analysts.
“The volatility is over,” Macquarie’s analysts wrote in a recent note.
However, South Korea’s return to a technical bull market does not guarantee that the Kospi’s rally will continue.
Macquarie expects Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to lead the near-term recovery, supported by strong AI-driven demand for memory chips.
The firm said the global market was facing an unprecedented memory shortage and saw no signs of supply constraints easing over the next three years.
For Nigeria, the latest ranking means the country has slipped to third place globally despite maintaining a strong year-to-date performance. Ghana now occupies second position, while South Korea has reclaimed the global lead.