Asian stocks fragile, Nvidia plummets as board to decide CEO’s fate

Detailed summary

Asian stocks fragile as Nvidia plunges on board meeting over Jensen Huang’s fate Read more at straitstimes.com.

Shares in Nvidia slid more than 8% after the bell, weighing on S&P 500 e-mini futures, which slipped 0.4%.

SINGAPORE – Global stocks wobbled at the start of Asian trade on Nov 12, while Nvidia shares plunged in after-hours trading on news that its board may oust long-time chief executive Jensen Huang.

Nvidia’s board is meeting late on Nov 11 to decide whether to oust Huang, a source familiar with the matter said, as the world’s dominant supplier of AI processors grapples with the fallout of allegations that he had an affair with a suspected spy for China.

The New York Times has also reported that Huang had an affair with a company executive who reported to him.

“It looks bad from every single angle,” said Jake Dollarhide, CEO at Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“I believe the board won’t oust him until they have an all-star, a known entity in the tech sector, to replace him,” he said. “At the end of the day, let’s not forget that the Nvidia chip is the centrepiece of the AI story.”

Shares in Nvidia slid more than 8% after the bell, weighing on S&P 500 e-mini futures, which slipped 0.4%.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2%, Taiwanese shares gained 0.5%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5% and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.1% lower, weighed down by shares in Hong Kong.

Stocks on Wall Street made gains on Nov 11, with the S&P 500 rising 1.3% and coming close to retracing all the losses since last week’s US midterm elections.

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