Taiex Falls 2.63% as Nvidia Board Turmoil Hits Asia's Chip Stocks

Taiwan's Taiex fell 2.63% to 43,091.87 on Thursday, the worst performance among Asia's major markets, after a report that Nvidia's board is preparing to oust chief executive Jensen Huang dragged chip and AI hardware stocks across the region lower.

Nvidia shares dropped about 7% in after-hours trading on Wednesday to around $161 after The Wall Street Journal reported the board deliberations. No decision had been announced by the time Asian markets closed. The selloff was concentrated in companies with direct Nvidia exposure.

TSMC, Nvidia's chipmaker and the largest stock on the Taiex, fell 2.3% to NT$2,340. The losses ran steeper among builders of Nvidia-based AI servers: Quanta Computer dropped 6.5% to NT$278.50 and Wiwynn 6.6% to NT$1,570. MediaTek lost 3.5% and Hon Hai 0.8%. Turnover on the Taiwan exchange reached NT$1.01 trillion.

The slide came one day after the Taiwanese server makers reported October sales that doubled from a year earlier, underlining how fast the AI hardware cycle has grown and how sharply sentiment can reverse on leadership risk at their largest customer.

How far did the selling spread?

Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.70% to 60,819.36, but the damage stayed narrow. The broader Topix rose 0.20% to 3,937.33, with 957 Prime-market stocks rising against 548 that fell. Advantest, the chip-testing equipment maker and one of the Nikkei's heaviest weights, dropped 4.63% to 29,985 yen, and SoftBank Group lost 3.04% to 3,738 yen. Memory maker Kioxia fell 2.83% and Disco 0.44%, while Tokyo Electron edged up 0.35% to 9,304 yen.

Because the Nikkei is price-weighted, a handful of expensive chip stocks pulled the index down even as most of the market rose. Mitsubishi Corp. gained 1.12%, Mitsui & Co. 1.27% and Itochu 1.60%. Twenty-seven of the Tokyo exchange's 33 industry groups rose, led by fisheries and agriculture. Bridgestone climbed 3.97% to 4,319 yen after reporting a 23% rise in third-quarter adjusted operating profit and raising its revenue forecast during the session.

In Seoul, the Kospi fell 0.61% to 5,342.73. SK hynix, a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory for Nvidia's accelerators, lost 1.80% to 1,254,000 won, while Samsung Electronics moved the other way and gained 0.97% to 208,000 won. NAVER was the biggest large-cap loser, down 6.43% to 181,800 won, after its third-quarter operating profit fell 21% on rising AI infrastructure costs. Hyundai Motor fell 2.20%. The tech-heavy Kosdaq lost 1.22% to 696.53.

Hong Kong and mainland China also slipped. The Hang Seng was down 1.28% at 24,004.55 and the Hang Seng Tech index down 2.38% at 3,931.34, an hour before the close, with Alibaba down 6.8% at that point after falling 4.97% by midday. CK Hutchison fell 4.23% in the morning session. The Shanghai Composite closed at 3,655.83, down 0.67%, and the CSI 300 at 4,043.93, down 0.78%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed nearly flat, down 0.07% at 9,146.80. India's Sensex traded at 81,805.38, down 0.09%, at 12:15 p.m. Mumbai time.

Why does the yen matter here?

The yen stayed weak at about 159.9 per dollar late in the Asian day. Atsushi Mimura, Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs, said currency moves in recent days had been too rapid. The dollar's level just below 160 yen preceded actual intervention twice this year. Data earlier in the day showed wholesale inflation accelerating to 7.1% in October, above forecasts, keeping a Bank of Japan rate increase in December in play, though board member Toichiro Asada urged caution on the pace of hikes.

What happens next?

Nvidia's board has not announced a decision on Huang. U.S. trading in Nvidia on Thursday will set the tone for Asia's chip stocks on Friday. Nvidia reports quarterly results on Nov. 17, and three House committee chairs have asked Huang for a briefing on Nov. 18. Until the board speaks or the results land, leadership risk at the center of the AI supply chain will keep Taiwan's server ecosystem and its memory suppliers in Seoul priced for volatility.