Nvidia Shares Fall 14% After CEO Resignation, S&P 500 Dips 0.3%

Nvidia shares dropped 14 percent at the opening bell on Thursday, marking the sharpest single-day move for the company since its record high last month. The plunge followed the board's announcement that CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang had resigned. He was replaced by interim CEO Colette Kress, the company's chief financial officer.

The news triggered a broader reassessment of the artificial intelligence sector. Nvidia stock had already fallen 27 percent from its peak in early October through Wednesday. That decline stemmed from a board investigation into Huang's relationship with a woman suspected of being a Chinese government agent. The resignation settled the question of leadership but left investors weighing the company's future strategy without its most prominent figure.

The S&P 500 index absorbed the initial shock, erasing a nearly 1 percent loss in the first hour of trading. By the close, the benchmark had dipped 0.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 88 points, or 0.2 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5 percent after trimming an earlier 1.6 percent slide. Nvidia remained the heaviest weight dragging the S&P 500 down, though its loss narrowed from 14 percent to 5.4 percent as trading progressed.

Market sentiment toward other AI players was mixed. CoreWeave, a cloud provider that rents out Nvidia hardware, fell 8.2 percent. Micron Technology dropped 2.1 percent. Conversely, Broadcom rose 5.2 percent and Advanced Micro Devices gained 5.9 percent, suggesting some investors view the AI market as expanding beyond a single dominant firm. GE Vernova, which supplies power infrastructure for data centers, flipped from a 3 percent loss to a 1.7 percent gain by the end of the session.

Oil prices also moved sharply, adding to market volatility. Brent crude climbed 3.3 percent to $95.82 per barrel. The increase followed President Donald Trump's statement that he is no longer interested in a deal with Iran to end their war. Trump said he had asked his vice president to investigate U.S. cities and states led by Democrats. "We don't need a deal with Iran," Trump said. "Those days have long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!"

Higher energy costs pushed bond yields upward. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.10 percent from 4.98 percent late Tuesday. The bond market was closed Wednesday for Veterans Day. Rising yields increase borrowing costs for the government, corporations, and consumers. High mortgage rates have contributed to a slowdown in housing, with sales of previously occupied homes in October reaching their slowest pace in more than 16 years.

A separate report indicated that slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, though the number remains low by historical standards. The housing sector continues to weigh on the U.S. economy, but analysts note it has not upended growth. In international markets, indexes were mixed in Europe following a weaker finish in Asia, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index falling 1.3 percent.

The next catalyst for the market is a speech scheduled for next week by the Federal Reserve chair, who is expected to comment on the inflation impact of energy prices and the stability of the AI sector. Traders will also watch for additional earnings reports from technology firms in the coming days to gauge how the Nvidia leadership change affects revenue outlooks.