New York, Jan 28, 2026, 09:32 EST — Regular session
- Nvidia shares jumped about 1% shortly after the open, lifted by gains in chip stocks.
- A Reuters report revealed that China has approved major tech companies to begin initial purchases of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips, drawing traders’ focus.
- The Federal Reserve’s decision and megacap earnings, both due later Wednesday, continued to draw close attention.
NVIDIA Corp shares rose 1.1% to $188.52 in early Wednesday trading, extending gains in chip stocks. Advanced Micro Devices ticked up 0.3%, Broadcom surged 2.4%, and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF gained 2.1%.
Investors are closely watching Nvidia’s revenue exposure in China amid shifting export rules, trying to assess whether the AI spending boom can keep up its pace. This development carries weight in that context.
Today, macro shifts and megacap news are enough to shake the whole sector. Nvidia frequently acts as a proxy for the “AI trade,” even when the spotlight falls on other stories.
China has approved ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent to buy more than 400,000 of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips, four sources told Reuters. But the go-ahead comes with tough conditions still being negotiated, and a fifth source said the licenses remain too restrictive for those companies to place actual orders. Nvidia and the firms declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
Chip stocks surged at the open, lifted by SK Hynix posting a record quarterly profit and ASML reporting its largest Q4 order book ever, igniting a tech rally. “As we move into earnings season, there is a sense of increasing optimism,” said Louise Dudley, portfolio manager for global equities at Federated Hermes. Reuters
Europe’s ASML stands out as a key indicator of Nvidia’s demand, thanks to its dominance in extreme ultraviolet lithography machines vital for advanced chip manufacturing. John West of consultancy Yole Group described EUV as “the only game in town” in the Reuters piece.
Nvidia is watching for any relaxation at the Chinese border, since the H200 sits near the top of its AI lineup and demand is still robust.
But here’s the rub: these policies cut both ways. Conditional approvals could slow down shipments, while fresh U.S.-China tech frictions risk stalling progress altogether.
Traders are set to scrutinize the Fed statement and Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on Wednesday for clues about upcoming rate decisions. Once that’s out of the way, focus quickly turns to earnings reports from key AI investors after the market bell.
Looking ahead, Nvidia’s bulls confront a major question: will China’s approvals translate into real orders and shipments? And can the company steer through restrictions, quotas, or compliance hurdles without slowing its revenue growth?
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