Asian Chip Stocks Split as Markets Weigh Huang's Exit From Nvidia

Taiwan's Taiex rose 1.7%, and TSMC, which manufactures Nvidia's processors, added 0.9%, according to the Associated Press. In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.8% to 61,283.16, with chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron up 1.5%. Memory maker Kioxia lost 2.5% and SoftBank Group dropped 5.2%. The AP did not give reasons for the individual moves.

The split matters because Asian suppliers sit at the centre of Nvidia's supply chain, and investors are now pricing companies that build chips for the whole AI industry differently from those most tied to Nvidia itself. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5% to 5,317.05. Samsung Electronics slipped 0.7% and SK Hynix, a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators, fell 2%.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 23,786.48, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.2% to 3,663.71. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.7% to 9,084.80 and India's Sensex fell 0.2%.

The trading followed a session on Wall Street on Thursday in which Nvidia closed more than 4% lower after Huang's departure, and Colette Kress, the company's longtime chief financial officer, took over as interim chief executive. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite each fell 0.4%, while Nvidia rival AMD rose 5.9%. US stock futures edged higher on Friday.

Oil prices added to the pressure on equities. President Donald Trump said on Thursday, "We don't need a deal with Iran," as the conflict in the Middle East continues. Brent crude, the international benchmark, edged down 0.1% to $95.70 a barrel early Friday, against roughly $72 in late February before the Iran war began. US benchmark crude fell 0.4% to $88.41 a barrel.

In currency trading, the dollar rose to 159.91 Japanese yen from 159.84 yen, and the euro rose to $1.1059 from $1.1055.