The sharp drop in Nvidia shares triggered a sell-off in European markets on Tuesday, with the Cac 40 index in Paris down 0.8pc and the Dax in Frankfurt down 1.1pc.
Jim Reid, a Deutsche Bank analyst, said Nvidia “has been driving markets again over the last 24 hours”.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, has sold almost $95m of shares in the last two weeks, according to stock market filings, although the trades were scheduled months ago as part of a rewards plan.
Nvidia’s rise in recent months has made Mr Huang the world’s 13th richest person with a net worth of $111bn.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: “It’s too early to call the end of the Nvidia mania but given the high amount of speculation around the stock, we shall see the price action getting worse before it gets better.”