Nvidia employees urge board to bring back Jensen Huang

US equities ended in the red on Thursday as Nvidia's share price plummeted following CEO Jensen Huang's sudden exit, while energy stocks rallied on surging oil prices. The chipmaker's stock saw a steep 12% drop early on before settling lower. Huang's abrupt resignation, stems from an ongoing probe into his relationship with a woman believed to be a Chinese government asset. Colette Kress was appointed interim CEO in his stead.

The S&P 500 slipped 25.99 points, or 0.34%, to 7,593.39, the Nasdaq Composite dipped 102.44 points, or 0.40%, to 25,363.75, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 190.29 points, or 0.36%, to 52,296.20. Retail investors poured $111 million into Nvidia shares during the first half of trading, a record-high opening buying session.

Nvidia's weakness also dragged down other AI-related firms, although some competitors saw gains. Broadcom rose 5.2%, Advanced Micro Devices gained 5.9%, and Alphabet and Amazon both posted increases. However, the Philadelphia Semiconductor index slipped after a 17.2% gain over the past four days. AI cloud firms Nebius and CoreWeave declined, and data center-related companies IREN and Applied Digital posted losses.

Nvidia's leadership shift has sparked doubts about the AI sector's future, a key driver of recent Wall Street rallies. Investors are also probing Nvidia's financing ties with several clients. Brent crude futures rose 3.3% to $95.82 per barrel, pushing the S&P 500 energy index to its best performance in four sessions. Marathon Petroleum soared 3.2%, while Exxon Mobil climbed 2.3%.

Higher oil prices also sparked worries about inflation, which nudged the 10-year US Treasury yield to 5.10% from 4.98%. More bond yields mean greater borrowing costs for governments, businesses, and consumers. Recent stock market turbulence has been fueled by potential AI regulation concerns post-Democratic wins in midterm elections, as well as uncertainty surrounding Nvidia's leadership and overall tech sector health.