AI Trade — Taiwan Falls 2.6%, Nasdaq Futures 0.9% as Nvidia Sinks 8.6% on a CEO Ouster Report
Asia's chip markets gave back part of Wednesday's rally, and US futures point lower, after a report that Nvidia's board is preparing to remove its chief executive. Taiwan's TAIEX fell 2.6%, Japan's Nikkei 0.7% and Korea's Kospi 0.6%; all three had opened flat or higher and were sold through the session. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 0.9% and S&P 500 futures 0.4%.
Nvidia fell 8.6% after hours on Wednesday on a report that its board may remove chief executive Jensen Huang. Of 41 companies tied to Nvidia, five rose, and only AMD (+4.3%) and Broadcom (+2.4%) by more than half a percent. The companies that rent out Nvidia's chips fell most, 4.3% on average, ahead of its suppliers and server makers at 2.7%. In Asia the names analysts call winners rose early and faded by the close. If Huang leaves, what changes first is not the chip but what ran on his decisions: Nvidia's investments in customers, the allocation of chips and its dealings with Washington and Beijing.