Nvidia said to be preparing Huang ouster; Alibaba slumps - what’s moving markets Scott Kanowsky Thu, November 12, 2026 at 4:34 AM EST 5 min read ^IXIC +1.60% BABA -4.13% NVDA -6.38% CL=F -0.83% ^NDX +2.28% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Investing.com - Futures linked to the main U.S. stock indices point mostly lower, with Nasdaq futures leading the losses. Shares in Nvidia fall in extended hours trading on reports that the board of the artificial intelligence darling may be preparing to oust long-time CEO Jensen Huang. Alibaba's stock price also declines on concerns over increased U.S. scrutiny of chip exports to China. Meanwhile, oil prices are volatile as traders assess the trajectory of diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war.
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Nasdaq futures pointed lower on Thursday. By 03:09 ET (08:09 GMT), the Nasdaq 100 futures contract had fallen by 240 points, or 0.9%, S&P 500 futures had dipped by 32 points, or 0.4%, and Dow futures were mostly unchanged.
The main averages on Wall Street advanced in the prior session. The AI trade's rollercoaster ride took another turn, with investors showing renewed enthusiasm for the nascent technology thanks to an upbeat financial forecast from neocloud player CoreWeave, excitement for Claude-maker Anthropic's potential landmark initial public offering, and a reported surge in revenue at OpenAI.
By the end of trading on Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite had gained 1.6%, helping the tech-heavy index claw back some losses from a steep selloff last week spurred by concerns that Democratic victories in the U.S. midterm elections could lead to a slowdown in rapid AI development.
Stocks -- and bonds -- were also pressured earlier this week by hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data, which ignited bets that the Federal Reserve could roll out a larger-than-normal interest rate hike at its final gathering of the year in December.
"The crazy whipsawing post midterms continued yesterday," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.
2. Nvidia preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang - WSJ
And that volatility has carried on, this time due to an explosive scandal involving the head of Nvidia which has buffeted shares of the AI semiconductor giant.
In after-hours trading on Thursday, Nvidia's stock price had fallen by more than 6% on a Wall Street Journal report that the company's board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang over an extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy and another with an employee.
The board was planning to meet as soon as Wednesday to decide Huang's future, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Should he step down, Huang -- who has around 60 direct reports -- would leave a major leadership hole in his wake that could unleash deep uncertainty around the outlook for Nvidia, whose cutting-edge chips have made it a lynchpin of the AI industry and one of the most valuable firms in the world.
Huang, known for his black leather jackets and as a passionate defender of the AI boom at conferences around the world, is also Nvidia's largest shareholder, owning a roughly 3.6% stake in the group.
Underlining Huang's importance to Nvidia, analysts at brokerage Yorkville Ives predicted that the business could lose a quarter of its valuation if he departs.
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Elsewhere, Chinese AI stocks slipped on fears that the Huang controversy could spark more intense U.S. scrutiny of how domestic operators access high-end chips.
Alibaba, in particular, tumbled by more than 6% in Hong Kong trading. The Chinese e-commerce and AI titan has rented Nvidia chips through Megaspeed, a company whose founder is said to have had an affair with Huang and has ties to the Chinese intelligence community. Other model developers like MiniMax and Z.AI dropped as well.
Critically, the declines come as Alibaba and peer Tencent are preparing to unveil their latest quarterly results next week, with questions swirling around how these firms are getting their hands on the chips and computing capacity needed to power their AI ambitions.
On Thursday, China's government called on the U.S. to not use Huang's scandal as a pretense for tightening chip export restrictions, Bloomberg News reported. Beijing said it is in contact with officials in Washington.
On the earnings front, investors will be looking ahead to a fresh slate of tech sector results as they attempt to gauge the health of the AI era.
Returns are due out from Cisco Systems and Applied Materials after the closing bell. Cisco provides the networking equipment needed in AI data centers, while Applied Materials offers the semiconductor manufacturing equipment used to build processors.
Nebius Group will also be in focus when it reports before the start of U.S. trading. Shares of the neocloud surged by more than 15% on Wednesday, after peer CoreWeave unveiled rosy full-year projections that soothed some worries around the sustainability of its massive multi-billion dollar debt pile.
Oil prices oscillated around the flatline as traders kept tabs on what has been mixed messaging over a potential de-escalation in Middle East tensions.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday evening that U.S. Vice President JD Vance was considering in-person talks with a top Iranian security official.
The potential negotiations represent a renewed effort by Washington to end the war, after Vance largely blamed the conflict for hurting the Republican Party's performance in the November midterm elections.
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed openness to Vance restarting talks with Iran, the WSJ report said, adding that discussions over Vance holding direct talks remained preliminary.
The U.S. and Iran remained at odds over the Strait of Hormuz and a naval blockade against Tehran, keeping markets uncertain about supply disruptions in the Middle East. Crude prices rose from around two-month lows on Wednesday.
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