Asian stocks extend gains as traders watch Nvidia leadership crisis

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Asian stocks rose on Thursday, extending a global tech-led rally, though investors kept a nervous eye on Nvidia as chief executive Jensen Huang ...

HONG KONG: Asian stocks rose on Thursday, extending a global tech-led rally, though investors kept a nervous eye on Nvidia as chief executive Jensen Huang faced an investigation over an affair with a woman reportedly suspected by US intelligence of spying for China.

Companies linked to artificial intelligence (AI) have bounced back in recent days after last week’s selloff, which was sparked by regulatory concerns following the Democrats’ sweep of Congress. Optimism has been reinforced by the upcoming initial public offering of Anthropic and positive earnings from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and data center operator CoreWeave. Chipmakers SK hynix, Samsung, Kioxia and TSMC have led the gains in Asia, despite rising expectations of further US interest rate hikes.

All three main Wall Street indexes ended higher on Wednesday. Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei were again among the best performers in Asia, with Shanghai, Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta also up, while Hong Kong, Sydney and Manila fell.

Nvidia co-founder Huang has admitted to a relationship with Alice Huang, a senior executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed. US intelligence reportedly circulated a memo in the spring alleging she was an asset of China’s Ministry of State Security. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Huang had also had a second extramarital affair with another Nvidia executive, while the Wall Street Journal said the company’s board was preparing to meet as soon as Wednesday to decide his future, citing people familiar with the matter.

“Nvidia has spent years convincing investors that it is one of the most important companies in the AI revolution,” Charu Chanana of Saxo Markets wrote. “Now, the biggest question surrounding the company is not about its chips, competitors or earnings. It is about its founder.” She noted that Nvidia had no publicly identified successor to Huang.

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