Asian stock markets fell on Thursday, 12 November, as turmoil at Nvidia rattled chip stocks across the region and reversed some of the week’s earlier gains.

Taiwan’s Taiex led the declines, dropping 2.63%, while China’s Shenzhen Component lost 1.68%, according to The Edge’s Asia market wrap. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down 0.70% at 60,819.36, while the broader Topix was the only finished market to gain, edging up 0.20% to 3,937.33.

Chip stocks lead the slide

The selling followed a sharp fall in Nvidia shares in after-hours trading in New York, after reports that the chipmaker’s board was weighing the future of chief executive Jensen Huang. The Wall Street Journal reported that directors were preparing to remove Huang, and Reuters reported that the board met late on Wednesday to decide his future. Nvidia has announced no decision.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6%, the Wall Street Journal reported, and China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.67% to 3,655.83. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 1.27% lower at 24,007.17 in intraday trading at 06:50 GMT, with its technology index down 2.1%.

Reversal after Wednesday rally

The falls came a day after Asian chip stocks had surged on Wednesday. Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 3.6% in that session, led by chipmaker TSMC, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.6% on gains for memory chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 were down about 0.9% in early trading on Thursday, Reuters reported, suggesting the pressure on technology shares would carry into the US session. Investors are now waiting for Nvidia’s quarterly results, due on 17 November, for the next test of the artificial intelligence trade.