Nvidia seeks successor to Jensen Huang as shares fall 8%
Asian equities edged higher on Thursday even as Nvidia Corp shares fell about 8% in late US trading, with investors weighing a leadership crisis at the chipmaker against a broader rally in artificial intelligence stocks.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2%, as gains in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan outweighed a 1.2% decline in Hong Kong. The move followed a 2.3% jump in the Nasdaq 100, leaving the US tech benchmark on track for its best week since May. Nasdaq 100 futures later dropped 0.6% and S&P 500 contracts lost 0.3%.
The chipmaker is working with an outside firm to identify potential replacements for chief executive officer Jensen Huang following reports of multiple extramarital affairs, including one with a woman reportedly suspected of spying for China, according to a person familiar with the situation. The turmoil matters for Asia because the region sits at the centre of Nvidia's supply chain, which includes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc.
"Nvidia's latest developments could weigh on sentiment across the broader AI trade, but we see selective opportunities emerging among semiconductor companies that can offer credible second source alternatives for critical AI chips," said Gary Tan, portfolio manager at Allspring Global. "Near term, however, investor reception to Anthropic's IPO is likely to be a more important driver of AI sentiment."
Optimism had been fed by CoreWeave Inc, which surged 25% on an upbeat outlook, while OpenAI's quarterly revenue reached US$10 billion and Anthropic PBC's initial public offering was said to be multiple times oversubscribed. Elsewhere, the dollar held gains after climbing to an 18-month high, with traders fully pricing a quarter-point Federal Reserve hike next month. Brent crude fell 1.1% to around US$91.75 a barrel, and spot gold was little changed after falling as much as 1.2% below US$4,000 an ounce in US hours.
