Nikkei leads Asian sell-off after reports of Nvidia shake-up weigh on U.S. futures; Japan PPI beats forecasts

Asian stocks faced uncertainty at the start of November 12 trading, while Nvidia's shares experienced a significant drop after hours due to potential board action against CEO Jensen Huang. Nvidia, the leading provider of AI processors, faces allegations of Huang having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy and another employee.

The New York Times reported these claims, and analysts suggest Huang's leadership may be at risk. Longbow Asset Management CEO Jake Dollarhide stated, "It looks bad from every single angle." Nvidia's shares plummeted more than 8% after market close, impacting the S&P 500 e-mini futures, which fell 0.4%. Despite a shaky beginning, regional indexes showed resilience, with South Korea's Kospi up 0.2%, Taiwan's shares rising 0.5%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 increasing 0.5%.

However, Hong Kong's MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan slipped 0.1%. On Wall Street, stocks rebounded on November 11, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.3% and nearing its recovery from post- midterm election losses. Westpac analysts attributed this optimism to renewed confidence in AI, citing positive developments from CoreWeave and Anthropic.

Meanwhile, the dollar index remained stable in Asian trade at 102.87, its highest level since April 9, 2025, following Trump's announcement of new tariffs. Bitcoin and ether both experienced slight declines of 0.9% and 0.9%, respectively.