S&P 500, Nasdaq fall as Nvidia CEO’s exit rattles AI stocks

Detailed summary

S&P 500 and Nasdaq fall as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s exit rattles AI stocks and investors await US inflation data. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Traders working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Nov 10, in New York City.

NEW YORK - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite indexes fell on Nov 12 as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s exit unnerved the AI trade and higher oil prices prompted investors to retreat to the sidelines.

The AI heavyweight’s shares dropped 7.6% as investors fretted over the industry impact of Huang’s resignation from the company central to the AI boom, following reports of his involvement in a second extramarital affair.

Nvidia’s chief financial officer, Colette Kress, will take over as interim CEO.

“It leaves the company rudderless. He was so central to all their strategy, and it just highlights that there’s quite a void there,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

“It does throw the AI trade into a bit more confusion. You don’t have someone who was a cheerleader for AI in the same way that Jensen Huang has.”

AI stocks were also reeling after neocloud company Nebius said its 2026 revenue would come in at the low end of its previous forecast, pulling its shares down 17%. Peer CoreWeave dropped about 7%.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index declined 1.3%, as chipmakers Intel, Marvell Technology and Micron fell between 2.8% and 4.2%.

Other data centre-related firms IREN, Applied Digital and Core Scientific fell between 3% and 5%.

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