Asian Markets Rally as Nvidia Board Probes CEO Jensen Huang Over Ties to Suspected Chinese Asset
Asian markets rallied at the start of the week, led by Tokyo banking and tech shares, as Wall Street futures rose ahead of U.S. inflation data. Meanwhile, Nvidia's board launched a probe into CEO Jensen Huang's ties with a suspected Chinese intelligence asset.
Asian stock markets opened the trading week on a strong positive note, led by the Tokyo Stock Exchange and sharp gains in major banking and semiconductor shares, while Wall Street futures also edged higher ahead of upcoming inflation data. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index surged 3%, South Korea's Kospi rose 1.6%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ticked up 0.2%, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.5%. Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to positive openings, with Dow Jones futures up 0.8% and S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures advancing 0.6% each, as crude oil prices experienced minor fluctuations.
In Japan, major banking institutions recorded notable advances, bolstered by broad market optimism. Nomura Holdings climbed 3.5%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group advanced 4.8%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rose 4.4%, and Mizuho Financial Group surged 5.5%. Concurrently, optical fiber giants supplying data centers dominated the Nikkei's top performers, with Sumitomo Electric Industries soaring 8.7%, Furukawa Electric jumping 8.5%, and Fujikura climbing 7.3%. The semiconductor sector also exhibited robust strength, as Advantest gained 4.6% and Tokyo Electron rose 5.5% in Tokyo, while SK Hynix advanced 4.8% to lead Seoul's Kospi index alongside Samsung Electronics, which rose 2.5%.
China Inflation Data and Markets
Economic figures released from China showed the Consumer Price Index remaining unchanged on a monthly basis in October, meeting consensus expectations. The annual inflation rate eased to 0.7%, down from 0.9% in September, following two months of acceleration. Conversely, the Producer Price Index accelerated to 5.7% on an annual basis, marking its highest level since June 2022 and exceeding market forecasts of 5.3%, driven largely by rising energy and raw material costs.
Nvidia CEO Investigation
In corporate news, Nvidia's board of directors has launched an independent investigation into co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang regarding his personal ties with a Chinese businesswoman who U.S. intelligence agencies suspect of operating as an intelligence asset for Beijing. According to reports from major international financial newspapers, intelligence officials raised concerns that the woman, identified as Alice Huang and associated with the cloud computing firm Megaspeed—an Nvidia customer—may have transmitted sensitive information to Chinese authorities.
In an internal email sent to Nvidia employees, Jensen Huang confirmed that he had an extramarital affair with the woman and announced that the board initiated an independent inquiry into the allegations. "I betrayed my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did," Huang wrote in the message, adding an apology. An Nvidia spokesperson stated that Huang remains fully committed to continuing his duties as chief executive without interruption, while the board emphasized it will thoroughly investigate whether the CEO was targeted by foreign intelligence operations.
