Wall Street Posts Best Week in Months Looking Past Nvidia Turmoil
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were each up more than 3 percent for the week on Friday, November 13, 2026, as investors shrugged off Jensen Huang's resignation as Nvidia chief executive. European stocks also headed for a weekly gain.
US stocks were on course on Friday, November 13, 2026, for their best week in months, looking past Nvidia turmoil after Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive of the chip maker. The S&P 500 was set to rise more than 3 percent for the week, its best five-day stretch since early August.
The Nasdaq Composite has also gained more than 3 percent so far this week. The rally ends weeks of losses driven by worries that growth in the artificial intelligence industry is slowing, which had triggered sharp sell-offs in many leading tech stocks.
Huang's exit
Nvidia's board announced Huang's departure on Thursday morning. It followed revelations that he had an extramarital affair with a woman believed to be a Chinese spy, and then reports of a second affair with a subordinate employee.
The US Justice Department said it does not know whether the Chinese businesswoman at the center of the scandal was a spy.
Nvidia shares fell on Thursday. The stock is now about 30 percent below its all-time high, set just over a month ago, and about 12 percent lower for the year. Nvidia is the second-largest member of the S&P 500, behind Apple.
The shares lost about 11% between Monday and Thursday, then rose 2.6% in premarket trading on Friday.
Strategists play down the fallout
"The market is in an incredibly good position to move higher," said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist for the investment management arm at Nationwide. "Once you get through the news-driven sentiment, you can get back to focusing on fundamentals."
Tristan Hanson, a multi-asset fund manager at M&G, said Huang had been a very high-profile chief executive tied to Nvidia's success. But he argued the AI boom "is not about one individual."
Huang's departure could have far-reaching consequences for US chip export policy and the wider AI supply chain, given his push to keep access to the Chinese market and his close ties with US President Donald Trump. AI-related shares in China dropped after the resignation, while indexes in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea gained overnight.
Other markets
Europe's STOXX 600, which hit a record high in the previous session, was down about 0.1% on Friday. It was on track for a weekly gain of more than 2%. London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1%, and Germany's DAX was down 0.2%.
The dollar index stood at 103.27 after touching its highest level since April 2025. Traders are betting on a larger Federal Reserve rate rise next month: the CME FedWatch tool showed a 12% chance of a 50-basis-point hike in December, up from zero a week earlier.
Brent crude futures rose 0.33% to $96.17 a barrel, while US crude eased 0.2% to $88.57. Oil was heading for a second weekly decline. Spot gold gained 0.3% to $3,887.66 an ounce.
A more than 12-hour outage of Microsoft Outlook and Teams also disrupted businesses and governments worldwide on Friday. Some organizations reverted to fax machines, and at least one bond repurchase in Europe was halted.
