{"id":7371,"date":"2026-11-12T06:20:40","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T06:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lqhmarkets.com\/news\/nvidia-leadership-uncertainty-ai-markets-12-nov-26\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T06:20:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T06:20:40","slug":"nvidia-leadership-uncertainty-ai-markets-12-nov-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lqhmarkets.com\/news\/nvidia-leadership-uncertainty-ai-markets-12-nov-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Nvidia Leadership Uncertainty Weighs on AI Trade, APAC Markets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Market Overview<\/h2>\n

Reports that Nvidia’s board was considering removing CEO Jensen Huang sent its shares lower after hours and weighed on US equity futures, overshadowing Wall Street’s gains on November 11. Asian stocks mostly fell in afternoon trading, while Australia’s S&P\/ASX 200 finished 0.07% lower. The reports brought leadership risk at a company central to the artificial intelligence (AI) trade into focus.<\/p>\n

Markets<\/h2>\n

Australian equities concluded their session marginally lower, with the S&P\/ASX 200 falling 0.07% to 9,146.80. Across Asia, major indices were mostly lower during afternoon trading. South Korea\u2019s KOSPI declined 1.25%, and Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng index fell 0.82%. Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 was down 0.77%, while China\u2019s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.19%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index registered a modest gain of 0.11%.<\/p>\n

In currencies, the Australian dollar hit a 10-month low against the US dollar, falling 0.49% to US$0.6836. The US Dollar Index remained firm, up 0.07% at 102.98. Oil prices continued to drift toward a two-month low, with Brent crude futures down 1.12% at US$91.72 a barrel. US equity futures declined during the APAC session, with Nasdaq-100 futures down approximately 0.8%, pointing to a weaker opening for US markets.<\/p>\n

What Drove Markets<\/h2>\n

The primary driver of market sentiment was reported uncertainty surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang\u2019s leadership. Multiple media outlets indicated that Nvidia\u2019s board was discussing Huang\u2019s future, potentially considering an ouster, and had engaged an outside firm to identify successor candidates. Josh Gilbert, eToro lead analyst, noted that Huang has been “the voice that sells the AI story to the market each quarter,” suggesting this uncertainty is a “cloud” that has “turned into a storm” over the stock. This turmoil overshadowed a strong previous Wall Street session, which saw gains from CoreWeave\u2019s upgraded outlook and strong demand for Anthropic\u2019s IPO. Following reports about Nvidia’s leadership, shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Broadcom (AVGO) rose in after-hours trading as investors speculated that the companies could gain business from Nvidia. Nvidia closed up 2.87% on November 11 at $173.73, with its reported after-hours slump on that day influencing market reaction today.<\/p>\n

Broader macroeconomic concerns continued to influence sentiment. Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, advised investors to be “a little circumspect” due to “stubborn inflation, more Fed rate hikes, higher long-term interest rates, change in configuration in Washington DC [and] AI\/data center regulation demands.” Callie Cox, director of investment strategy at Plancorp, stated that the stock market is “locked in a fierce battle between the hope of AI and the fear around interest rates and inflation.” Markets are pricing an 87.3% probability of a 25-basis-point Fed rate increase at the December 9 meeting.<\/p>\n

Oil prices continued to fall toward a two-month low, attributed to increased Middle East production and muted hostilities between Iran and the United States.<\/p>\n

Within the Australian market, the S&P\/ASX 200 was dragged lower by a sell-off in the mining sector, with major players BHP and Rio Tinto declining 1.29% and 2.14% respectively. Technology shares found support from Xero, which was up 8.4% in afternoon trading after upgrading its guidance and announcing an A$1 billion share buyback. Banks were mixed, with ANZ declining 0.95% from profit-taking, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac posted gains of 2.89% and 1.93% respectively.<\/p>\n

Stocks to Watch<\/h2>\n