Tech Gets Slammed on Friday the 13th on Mounting Fears of Nvidia Slowdown: Nov. 13, 2026 

Tech is getting slammed as Nvidia’s shakeup is intensifying in response to mounting evidence of the firm’s chips reaching the wrong hands in China. The entire semiconductor space is taking a beating on this Friday the 13th, with investors concerned that tighter regulations and heavier oversight may ding revenue and income prospects. The sustained outage of Microsoft’s marquee corporate cloud-based products, including outlook and teams, isn’t helping sentiment either. The morning’s equity losses are a reversal from gains prior to the opening bell that resulted from today’s lighter-than-expected PPI, but selling pressure began dominating shortly thereafter. The Nasdaq 100 is once again below its critical 200-day moving average, as it plunges 2% and leads the major indices lower, with the S&P 500, Russell 2000 and Dow Jones Industrial sinking less than 1%. Indeed, 7 of the 11 principal sectors are appreciating this session, as the cyclical trade is supported by lighter Fed hike expectations driven by that cooler-than-projected wholesale inflation report. The yield curve is descending in bull steepening motion led by the monetary policy sensitive short end, but the decline is modest and the greenback is strengthening, as the 6.5% annualized number still printed a 47-month high, propelled by heavier food and energy costs. The retreat in animal spirits has commodities and cryptocurrencies depreciating across the board, while traders clamor for downside hedges, as premiums on volatility protection instruments rise amidst a VIX that almost reached 21. 

Gate Price Inflation Creeps Higher 

Annualized wholesale inflation hit its fastest level since November 2022 last month, as heavy fuel charges continued to drive costs higher across supply chains. The October Producer Price Index (PPI) climbed 0.3% month over month (m/m) and 6.5% year over year (y/y). Economists anticipated 0.4% and 6.6% prints following September’s 1.4% and 6.3% results. Transportation/warehousing services and food drove the pressure in the short-term, with those segments becoming 2% and 1.3% more expensive m/m. Core goods and other services also contributed to the lofty headline result, rising 0.5%, and 0.2%, with the former posting its quickest acceleration since May, indicating that the impact of pricier gasoline is spreading more materially to physical products ex food and energy. On a positive note, energy and trade dampened the headline’s climb. They posted 0.1% and 0.2% m/m declines. 

 All Eyes on Nvidia Earnings 

Nvidia’s earnings report this Tuesday will be key in determining how the company’s prospects might be hurt by the abrupt leadership change. If clues point to order books being materially bolstered by illegal sales to Chinese entities, then the ongoing buoyancy of the AI space will be subjected to greater scrutiny. But a heavy amount of pessimism has already been priced in, and alternative firms in the arena are executing quite well, so the Nvidia crisis alone won’t be enough to derail the AI buildout. Still, Nvidia’s capacity to provide vendor financing tactics could be weakened severely, and subsequently, the credit dynamics of the industry could deteriorate considering that the firm was instrumental in serving as a global banker of GPUs and it maintained relatively loose lending criteria that propelled the sector’s growth. Will someone other than Jensen be willing to capitalize customers at significant scale? 

International Roundup 

Euro Area Employment is Steady 

Employment growth was somewhat unremarkable with the euro area reporting no quarter over quarter (q/q) change and a 0.4% y/y climb. In the preceding period, payrolls grew by a stronger 0.1% q/q and 0.5% y/y.  

Soaring Energy Costs Inflate Europe’s Goods Trade Deficit  

The region’s trade deficit in September deepened from August’s 7.8 billion euros shortfall to 8.7 billion euros, or roughly $9.6 billion, in the final month of the quarter. Higher energy stickers resulted in the value of fuel imports climbing 9.2%, which contributed to imports growing 2.3%, while exports climbed only 2%.  

Stronger Won Trims South Korea Import Inflation 

Importers in South Korea saw prices of foreign products fall 1.8% m/m in October with a strong won and crude oil price decline responsible to for the drop. Exports were able to boost prices by 0.7%, a reversal from September’s 0.5% slip.