Nvidia Ousts CEO Jensen Huang, Rattling Wall Street

Wall Street fell on Thursday after Nvidia's shares slid sharply on news of chief executive Jensen Huang's abrupt exit, with finance chief Colette Kress named interim CEO. The FTSE 100 closed at its highest level in almost four weeks, lifted by data showing the UK economy grew at its fastest pace in two and a half years. The dollar held near a 19-month high and gold rebounded from a one-year low. US producer price data is due later on Friday.

Equities

The FTSE 100 closed at its highest level in nearly four weeks on Thursday, lifted by a run of strong earnings and data showing Britain's economy grew at its fastest pace in two and a half years last quarter. The midcap FTSE 250 closed little changed.

Burberry led the risers after its second-quarter sales and profit beat estimates, while Rolls-Royce advanced after reaffirming its annual outlook and unveiling a new share buyback. B&M jumped almost 21% after lifting its annual profit guidance, and 3i Group rose after launching a second buyback programme.

Dr Martens tumbled 15% after reporting a wider adjusted half-year loss and weaker-than-expected revenue. Endeavour Mining fell after flagging full-year gold output at the lower end of guidance, as bullion's slide to a one-year low weighed on the wider mining sector.

Wall Street closed lower on Thursday as Nvidia shares fell sharply after chief executive Jensen Huang's abrupt exit, with the board naming finance chief Colette Kress as interim CEO.

The S&P 500 fell 0.34%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.40% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.36%, even as energy stocks extended their advance for a fourth straight session.

Nvidia's slide dragged down other AI-linked names, including Nebius, which separately tumbled after its own quarterly results and outlook disappointed, along with CoreWeave, Iris Energy and Applied Digital.

Nvidia's rivals were among the day's best performers, with Broadcom, AMD, Alphabet and Amazon all rising as investors rotated into the chipmaker's competitors. Some investors flagged that scrutiny of Nvidia's financing arrangements with its own AI customers is likely to increase following Huang's departure, adding a fresh source of uncertainty for the sector.

Forex & Commodities

The dollar held near a 19-month high on Friday, with the dollar index at 103.18 and on track for a weekly gain of about 0.9%, its best in two months, as bets on a larger Federal Reserve rate hike pushed Treasury yields sharply higher.

The yen hovered near 160 per dollar, a level that has fuelled intervention speculation, after briefly testing that mark on Thursday. Japan's finance minister said on Friday that the government would respond appropriately to currency volatility.

Investors now await Friday's US producer price data, the next test for the Federal Reserve's rate path after this week's hotter-than-expected inflation reading.

Sterling edged lower against the broadly firmer dollar, in line with the rest of the pack rather than any fresh domestic catalyst. The currency has been contained near recent lows this week even after data on Thursday confirmed Britain's economy grew at its fastest pace in two and a half years.

Gold rose about 1% to near $3,919 an ounce on Friday on bargain-hunting, after tumbling to its lowest level in more than a year in the previous session, though prices remained on track for a weekly decline of roughly 3.6%. Spot gold had slumped as fading hopes for a Middle East peace deal lifted oil prices and stoked inflation fears, while growing bets on a larger Fed rate hike added pressure on the non-yielding metal.

Silver and palladium also rebounded on Friday but were both set for weekly losses, while platinum was on track for a modest weekly gain.

Oil prices edged lower on Friday, with Brent near $95.50 a barrel and US crude near $88 a barrel, as a continued US blockade of Iran eased fears of renewed fighting in the Middle East and both benchmarks headed for a second straight weekly decline. Brent and US crude had rebounded earlier in the week after President Trump said a deal with Iran was not necessary to end the conflict, but further gains were capped by rising US crude and fuel inventories.

Risks remain for shipments through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said oil tankers were hit by explosions there on Thursday, while Yemen's Houthi forces claimed separate attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure.