Asia Opens With Nvidia's CEO Under a Board Investigation and Chip Stocks Already Bruised

New here? Every line is marked as a fact, a quote or our read. How to read a Brief · Tap Explain terms for plain-word definitions.

Explain terms

The one thing that matters tonight

Nvidia's board said Sunday that a committee of independent directors, with outside counsel, will investigate reports that CEO Jensen Huang "has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort," according to the board's statement. The board said it has "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised." Huang, who admitted an affair in a memo to staff, stays CEO while the investigation runs.

Tokyo and Seoul each dropped 6% on Friday, following Wall Street's plunge on Thursday, the AP reported. Wall Street then steadied on Friday: the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite 1.1%, with Nvidia up 2.8%. Tonight is Asia's first session since that bounce. Tokyo opens at 9:00 AM Monday local time, which is 6:00 PM CT, and China releases October CPI and PPI at 9:30 AM Monday in Beijing, which is 7:30 PM CT.

Our read

Asia hasn't traded since New York bounced on Friday, and now it opens with a question mark over the CEO of the company at the center of the AI trade. Tokyo and Seoul are where chip stocks carry the most weight, so tonight is the first real test of whether the Nvidia news is a headline or a hit to confidence. The bigger test is still Tuesday's US CPI; tonight's China data is the warm-up on global prices.

The reopen

US stock index and gold futures reopened on CME Globex at 5:00 PM CT, after the weekend break (CME Group).

Asia tonight

Time CT	Market or event	Consensus	Why it matters
5:00 PM	US stock index and gold futures reopen (CME Globex)	—	First trading since Friday's US close
5:50 PM	Bank of Japan: monetary base and market operations for October	—	Routine data; no policy decision
6:00 PM	Tokyo stock market opens	—	First reaction to Friday's Wall Street bounce, and to the Nvidia news
7:30 PM	China CPI and PPI for October (NBS)	—	A read on global prices before Tuesday's US CPI

Carried over from the US session

Nvidia has no public succession plan, Bloomberg reported, and the company reports quarterly results on Tuesday, Nov. 17, after the close.
"The key question investors will be asking is: Will Jensen remain CEO of Nvidia?" Ives wrote Sunday, adding: "There is clearly risk that Jensen could be removed as CEO depending on the Board investigation," Yahoo Finance reported.^{Dan Ives, Yorkville Ives}
The S&P 500 lost 2.7% for the week, its worst week since April 2025, the AP reported.
The October jobs report showed 165,000 jobs added against 65,000 expected (FactSet), and traders priced a 78% chance of a December Fed hike after the report, Reuters reported.
AI-related stocks fell this week partly on worries that Democratic wins in statehouses could slow data-center construction, particularly in Texas, the AP reported.

What could move NQ, ES and gold overnight (general tendencies, not predictions)

A firm open in Tokyo and Seoul, where chip stocks carry a lot of weight, tends to support Nasdaq futures overnight; another heavy session there tends to weigh on them.
China's price data tends to matter more for commodities and Asian stocks than for US futures, unless it's a big surprise.
Gold tends to react to the dollar and to rate-hike bets, which can shift overnight ahead of Tuesday's CPI.

What we're watching for the morning

How Asian chip stocks and Nasdaq 100 futures take the Nvidia news.
Whether the Nikkei and the Kospi win back part of Friday's 6% drop, or keep sliding.
On Monday's US calendar, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Bowman is scheduled to speak on community banking at 7:40 AM CT and a 3-year Treasury note auction is at midday. CPI follows Tuesday at 7:30 AM CT.

The short version (the what and the result)

Nvidia's board is investigating reports that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort; Huang stays CEO while it runs (Nvidia board statement; Bloomberg).
Asia opens tonight for the first time since Wall Street's Friday bounce; Tokyo and Seoul fell 6% on Friday (AP).
China's October CPI and PPI land at 7:30 PM CT.
US futures reopened at 5:00 PM CT; US CPI is Tuesday at 7:30 AM CT.