Nvidia plunge rattles Asia as dollar hits high, UK GDP jumps
Nvidia slid more than 8% after the bell, rattling Asian markets, while the dollar index held at its highest since April 2025 and the UK economy grew 0.7% in the third quarter.
Nvidia plunges after hours, Asia wobbles
Global stocks wobbled at the start of Asian trade on Thursday, while Nvidia shares plunged in after-hours trading on news that its board may oust longtime chief executive Jensen Huang. Shares in Nvidia slid more than 8% after the bell, weighing on S&P 500 e-mini futures, which slipped 0.4%. Hours later on Thursday morning, Nvidia announced Huang had resigned, effective immediately, and named chief financial officer Colette Kress interim chief executive.
Regional indexes fared better after a choppy start. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2%, Taiwanese shares gained 0.5%, Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5%, and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.1% lower, weighed down by shares in Hong Kong. Stocks on Wall Street made gains on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 rising 1.3% before the Nvidia news broke.
Dollar at its highest since April 2025
The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was steady in Asian trade at 102.87, its highest level since April 9, 2025, in the aftermath of the tariff announcement. Traders ramped up bets on further Federal Reserve tightening after stronger-than-expected October inflation data.
Fed funds futures are pricing an 87.3% chance of a 25-basis-point hike at the U.S. central bank's next two-day meeting on December 9, compared with a 12.7% chance of a larger 50-basis-point hike, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. Traders see a December rate hike as a certainty, with the larger move now the less likely outcome.
- Nvidia after-hours fallMore than 8%
- S&P 500 e-mini futuresDown 0.4%
- Dollar index102.87, highest since April 9, 2025
- Chance of a 25-basis-point December hike87.3%
- UK GDP growthUp 0.7% quarter on quarter
UK economy grows at fastest pace in over two years
Britain's economy grew at the fastest rate in two-and-a-half years in the third quarter of 2026, helped by a boost from artificial intelligence. Gross domestic product expanded by 0.7% in the July-to-September period, in line with a Reuters poll of economists, but faster than its 0.5% growth in the second quarter and the strongest calendar-quarter growth since the first quarter of 2024, the Office for National Statistics said.
The annual growth rate picked up to 1.9% in the third quarter. Services expanded 0.9%, offsetting 0.1% output growth in production and a 0.7% contraction in construction. Within services, information and communication expanded 2.1% in the quarter, and the ONS said the industry has been the largest driver of GDP growth across 2026, with many of the businesses reporting the largest increases in turnover involved in activities related to artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
What to watch next
Investors are gearing up for Friday's Producer Price Index release, which could shape inflation expectations after data earlier this week showed consumer prices rose more than expected last month. U.S. weekly jobless claims are due at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, followed by October existing home sales at 10 a.m. ET.
In the UK, the Bank of England raised interest rates last week for the first time in three years. The UK's annual inflation rate jumped to 3.5% in September, and the Bank warned it could rise to around 5% by mid-2027. Markets are pricing in a 73% chance of a rate hike at the Bank's final meeting of the year in December, according to LSEG data.
