BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday despite Wall Street's overnight rally.
Investors grappled with fresh uncertainty over the artificial intelligence trade after media reports suggested that Nvidia's board is preparing to oust its co-founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, who is facing new accusations of infidelity.
According to New York Times, Huang was allegedly in a relationship with Nvidia's vice president of health care, Kimberly Powe.
Over the weekend, Huang admitted to cheating on his wife with a Chinese businesswoman alleged to be a spy, prompting an independent investigation and sending shockwaves through the AI industry.
Regional losses, however, remained capped somewhat as crude oil prices extended their decline on growing hopes for peace in Ukraine and Iran.
Saudi Arabia said its crude oil production climbed 26 percent in October to one of the highest monthly levels in years, helping ease global supply constraints.
Gold prices fell toward $3,950 an ounce, hitting a more than one-week low as rate hike expectations boosted the U.S. dollar.
China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.67 percent to 3,655.83 as artificial intelligence stocks declined on concerns over possible U.S. curbs on China's access to advanced American processors.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.26 percent to 24,008.55, with Alibaba shares tumbling nearly 7 percent.
Japanese markets reversed early gains to end notably lower as AI semiconductor stocks retreated on concerns over leadership at U.S. chipmaker Nvidia.
The Nikkei average dropped 0.70 percent to 60,819.36 while the broader Topix index settled 0.20 percent higher at 3,937.33.
Advantest slumped 4.6 percent, Kioxia Holdings fell 2.8 percent and SoftBank Group lost 3 percent.
Seoul stocks snapped a two-day rally amid expectations for more interest-rate increases in the U.S. and uncertainties stemming from the scandal involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
The Kospi index dipped 0.61 percent to 5,342.73. Chip giant SK Hynix fell 1.8 percent and chip equipment manufacturer Hanmi Semiconductor declined 1.1 percent, while market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose about 1 percent.
Australian markets ended on a flat note after three straight days of gains. The S&P/ASX 200 finished marginally lower at 9,146.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index slipped 0.18 percent to 9,274.20.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares rose nearly 3 percent despite corporate regulator launching civil penalty proceedings against the lender over allegations it overcharged business customers through undisclosed fees.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index rose 0.56 percent to 14,259.23, with logistics group Mainfreight leading the charge.
U.S. stocks closed higher overnight as Nvidia shares rebounded after two straight sessions of sharp declines. Sentiment improved across AI infrastructure stocks as well, energized by CoreWeave's robust earnings report and Anthropic's potential $2 trillion IPO.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 1.3 percent and the narrower Dow rose half a percent.
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