Nvidia Crisis Rattles Markets as Huang Exit Weighs on Tech Stocks

Wall Street closed a turbulent week mixed, as the resignation of Nvidia's longtime chief executive rippled through the semiconductor sector and left the Nasdaq sharply lower while the Dow managed a small gain.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.91% to 25,136.27 on Friday, Nov. 13, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.40% to 7,561.67, according to a nightly market digest. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10% to close at 52,347.55, while the Russell 2000 lost 0.31%. The CBOE Volatility Index climbed 3.16% to 19.29.

Chip stocks hit

The declines were concentrated in technology and semiconductors. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday following an investigation into a personal relationship, the market digest reported, hammering chip peers AMD, which fell 10.4%, and Broadcom, which dropped 5.3%.

Investors also weighed stubborn inflation. The October producer price index rose 0.3% month-over-month, below the 0.4% forecast, but reached 6.5% year-over-year, a near four-year high. Fed officials Michelle Bowman and Austan Goolsbee signaled that more work on inflation remains, the digest said, and Treasury yields approached 5%.

Energy gains

Energy was a bright spot, with oil and gas drilling and refining shares gaining as West Texas Intermediate crude edged up 0.30% to $89.01 amid Middle East tensions.

A packed week ahead

The coming week is busy. Markets will look to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's remarks and fresh retail sales data on Nov. 16, the release of the Federal Reserve's October meeting minutes on Nov. 18, and the trading debut of artificial-intelligence developer Anthropic on Nov. 19. Nvidia is scheduled to report quarterly results during the week, its first under interim leadership, alongside major results from Walmart and Palo Alto Networks.