Apr. 22 at 6:37 PM
$EWY "The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) surged 5.73% today, Wednesday, April 22, 2026, reaching a fresh 52-week high of
$155.20. The rally is primarily driven by a "peace dividend" as markets react to the extension of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, alongside a historic record-breaking session for South Korea’s KOSPI index.
The primary driver is the global "supercycle" for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and DRAM chips. EWY is heavily concentrated (over 40%) in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world leaders in these AI-critical components.
Ongoing government-led efforts to improve corporate governance (modeled after Japan's success) are helping to reduce the "Korea Discount" and attract record institutional inflows.
The Korea Development Institute (KDI) and IMF recently raised South Korea’s 2026 GDP growth forecast to 1.9%–2.0%, citing robust export demand for advanced chips.
Q1 earnings growth is on track to be the highest in four years, suggesting that is supported by profit not hype."