Nvidia CEO exit sinks small caps; yields jump on oil supply threats
Market & SentimentBroad weakness, with the Russell 2000 down 1.64% versus roughly 0.35% for the large-cap indices. Breadth was poor: 380 decliners against 120 advancers, though 68.1% of stocks remain above their 50-day average. Nvidia's 4.34% drop after CEO Jensen Huang's resignation drove the tech tone, while renewed Middle East shipping risk pushed crude higher and lifted yields.
Sectors & StocksEnergy led at +1.51% as oil gained over $1 on Strait of Hormuz disruptions, with Valero up 3.09%. Communication services rose 0.80%. Materials lagged at -1.47% as gold fell 3% to a one-year low, dragging Newmont down 4.92%. Chip names split: AMD rose 5.86% and Broadcom 5.54% on custom-AI-chip appeal, while Nvidia fell 4.34% and Sandisk 4.11%. Moderna dropped 6.97% on 2027 cash-cost guidance.
Rates, FX & CryptoThe 2-year rose 13bp to 4.86% and the 10-year 12bp to 5.10%, leaving 2s10s at 24bp. The move fits oil-driven inflation concern as Middle East peace hopes faded. EUR/USD fell 0.41% and USD/SGD rose 0.26%. Crypto weakened: BTC fell 3.36% to about $71.4k and ETH 1.79%.
Earnings & AnnouncementsCisco beat and said AI infrastructure revenue will double this fiscal year. Cerebras jumped 13% on a revenue beat and a new Microsoft deal. Microsoft bought $1 billion of Anthropic shares in its IPO placement; Amazon's stake was valued at $271.8 billion. SpaceX plans over $74 billion in AI supercomputing spending across Texas and Arizona. FinDog moved Gartner from Neutral to Bullish.
- Applied Materials fiscal Q4 results after chip-equipment selloff
- Treasury reaction to oil and Hormuz shipping risk
- Nvidia leadership and Intel partnership follow-through
- Cisco AI infrastructure commentary and networking peers
- Nvidia's CEO departure left no named successor, hitting the stock and raising questions about the chip roadmap and the company's $13 billion Intel stake.
- Iran reported explosions on four tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil chokepoint. The disruption lifted crude and fed inflation concerns across rates and gold.Reuters11-12 16:27 UTC
- Yemen's Houthis claimed an attack on a pumping station on Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, adding to supply risk from the region.Reuters11-12 20:18 UTC
- Fed Chair Kevin Warsh announced that the October 2027 meeting will not include a rate vote, a policy change affecting how markets read the Fed's calendar.CNBC11-12 18:11 UTC
- Cisco reported better-than-expected results and said AI infrastructure revenue will double this fiscal year as it pushes deeper into AI networking.
- Cerebras beat quarterly revenue expectations and announced a Microsoft partnership, adding another major cloud partner alongside Amazon and Oracle.
- Microsoft purchased $1 billion of Anthropic stock in the AI company's IPO placement, deepening ties days after Anthropic launched a spreadsheet product.
- SpaceX plans to invest more than $74 billion in AI supercomputing facilities in Texas and Arizona, expanding a business now larger than its rockets and Starlink.
- Gold fell 3% to its lowest in more than a year as fading Middle East peace hopes fanned inflation fears, pressuring miners such as Newmont.
- Moderna guided to about $4 billion in 2027 cash costs and $4–4.5 billion annually through 2030, mostly for oncology, sending shares down 7%.
Stories are selected and summarized by AI from the day's news coverage. Click a headline to read the original. Not investment advice.