Asian markets fall as Nvidia drops 8.6% on CEO conduct concerns

Asian markets mostly fell Thursday as concerns over Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's personal conduct weighed on AI stocks, despite a Wall Street rally. Nvidia shares dropped 8.6% in after-hours trading following reports of a board meeting about his affair with a Chinese woman, raising US national security concerns. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged 0.1% lower to 61,224.87, while Taiwan's Taiex lost 1.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.9%. South Korea's Kospi was nearly unchanged, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.2%. Nvidia had climbed 2.9% on Wednesday before the reports emerged. The company is investigating Huang, who admitted to a relationship with a businesswoman allegedly linked to feeding intelligence and advanced chips to China. Investors also remain wary of a potential AI industry slowdown amid questions about profitability, while US crude fell 1.21% to $85.48 a barrel.