MARKETS

S&P 500 7,682.07 +0.77% NASDAQ 26,221.04 +1.02% FTSE 100 10,767.33 +0.72% NIKKEI 62,190 -0.80% BRENT $110.83 -0.78% GOLD $4,034.8 +0.67%

Delayed 15 min · 18:17 GMT

FLASH

Central banks' super week: Fed, ECB, BoJ seen holding; Canada may hike Moody’s spares France a downgrade as 10-year yield tops 5% Oil slips from six-month highs as Qatar mediates in Tehran China’s Fifth Plenum opens as AI exports mask weak home demand Lula wins, Brazil markets brace for shock sell-off; Tokyo Brazil ETF plunges ~15% Brazil votes today: Lula faces Flávio Bolsonaro in runoff Fed, ECB, BoJ Rate Decisions This Week: Holds Expected, December in Focus Oil is pricing in the next round of war. Brent tops $116 as Iran tensions drag Wall Street lower Global money is bidding for India's biggest growth stories while leaving India’s index

Central banks' super week: Fed, ECB, BoJ seen holding; Canada may hike Moody’s spares France a downgrade as 10-year yield tops 5% Oil slips from six-month highs as Qatar mediates in Tehran China’s Fifth Plenum opens as AI exports mask weak home demand Lula wins, Brazil markets brace for shock sell-off; Tokyo Brazil ETF plunges ~15% Brazil votes today: Lula faces Flávio Bolsonaro in runoff Fed, ECB, BoJ Rate Decisions This Week: Holds Expected, December in Focus Oil is pricing in the next round of war. Brent tops $116 as Iran tensions drag Wall Street lower Global money is bidding for India's biggest growth stories while leaving India’s index

Industries

South Korea exports jump 83.5% to record $120.9B on AI chips

On a September-to-September basis, South Korea's chip exports are showing a massive boom.

News | 1 October 2026

South Korea Exports Hit Record $120.9B on AI Chip Boom

outh Korea's exports rose 83.5% from a year earlier to a record $120.9 billion in September, driven by a surge in chip shipments. It is the clearest sign yet of how much money the AI memory boom is generating.

South Korea's Chip exports rose 262.8% to $60.3 billion, the first time they have topped $60 billion in a month.

In only nine months of 2026, Korea has exported almost twice the value of chips it exported during all of 2025, and about 2.4× the entire 2024 total.

Imports rose 26% to $71.09 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $49.85 billion, while auto exports fell 5%.

Exports for January to September reached $814.5 billion, already more than last year's record full-year total.

The trade minister now expects annual exports to reach $1 trillion, but warned that rising protectionism and tensions in the Middle East remain major risks.