Wall Street, European Markets Rebound Amidst Nvidia CEO Probe
Reversing recent bearish performances, the Wall Street and European markets rebound amid falling global oil prices and an Nvidia chief executive probe.
US equities posted their best day since April, and the STOXX 600 gained 1.3%, while Nvidia fell after its board opened an investigation into chief executive Jensen Huang.
US and European stocks rallied on Monday as lower oil prices eased inflation fears and investors bought back into technology shares after last week’s sell-off, even as Nvidia slumped amid a governance scandal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.15% to 52,389.75, the S&P 500 rose 2.35% to 7,549.94, its best day since April, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.74% to 25,253.14. All 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, and the S&P 500 bounced off its biggest weekly drop since April 2025.
Last week’s rout
Thursday’s slide in AI shares came on worries that Democratic midterm victories could slow AI data centre construction. Reports said the Nasdaq wiped out $2.5 trillion that day, and the VIX volatility gauge closed at 28.18. Chip stocks recovered on Friday.
Nvidia CEO Faces Probe
Nvidia bucked the rally, closing down 4.27% at $178.67, after falling as much as 8.8% during the session. The chipmaker’s board opened an independent investigation after reports that Huang had a relationship with a business executive whom US intelligence agencies reportedly believe has been passing information to Beijing, according to the New York Times.
Huang told staff in an email that he had been unfaithful to his wife and fully supports the review. Nvidia’s board said it has no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised, and a spokesperson said Huang intends to remain CEO. China has rejected the claims as baseless.
The stock was worth about $4.5 trillion at Friday’s close, roughly 7% of the S&P 500, and has lost about 22% from its October peak. Analysts flagged “key-person risk” at the AI leader, but damage elsewhere in chips was contained. AMD jumped about 13% after an upgrade, and ASML, Micron and Taiwan Semiconductor also rose.
Europe follows
The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 1.26% at 656.52, led by defence stocks, which rose 4.2%, and banks, with the Euro STOXX banking index up 3.1% on Italian deal activity and strong UniCredit results. Germany’s DAX rose about 1.9% and Britain’s FTSE 100 about 1.1%.
European chip and software stocks rebounded after sharp falls the week before. “The gains across Europe appear broader than a pure tech-driven rally,” Wealth Club’s Susannah Streeter said.
Caution remains
Citi tactically downgraded US, global, and European tech from overweight to neutral, flagging turbulence beneath the index-level calm. Hang Seng Index Rises on AI Momentum, US, European Markets Dip
