Oil Falls 4% as Nvidia Slides on Board Probe of Huang
Oil opened the week with a sharp drop: Brent fell more than 4% in the morning to around $94 a barrel. It closed Friday at $98.30. The trigger was President Donald Trump's interview with CNN on Sunday.
Trump said new strikes on Iran depend on whether Tehran signs an agreement. He then added: "The answer is, highly unlikely it's going to be necessary." Risk in the Strait of Hormuz remains; Iran's Revolutionary Guards said two tankers caught fire after hitting mines late Saturday.
Cheaper oil lifted futures. Ahead of Tuesday's CPI, lower energy prices ease the inflation pressure behind expectations of a December rate hike. But the index's largest stock is not joining the rally.
Nvidia's board opened an internal investigation on Sunday into whether CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. In a message to employees, Huang admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife and took full responsibility. The company said it has no reason to believe U.S. national security or company secrets were compromised.
The stock is down nearly 5% in premarket trading, which would erase about $250B in market value. Nvidia makes up roughly 7% of the S&P 500, so it alone subtracts about 0.35 percentage points from the index. The rest of the chip sector diverges: is higher premarket after Oppenheimer upgraded it to buy.
