Tech shares led the ASX 200 amid NVIDIA scandal and Microsoft outage last week

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) tech shares led the 11 market sectors with a 2.18% gain last week.

Meanwhile, the benchmark index rose 0.68% to close at 9,082.2 points on Friday.

Surprisingly upbeat half-year results from a local tech company and a strong lead from Wall Street were behind the sector's outperformance.

Eight of the market sectors finished in the green last week.

Let's review.

ASX 200 tech shares led the market sectors last week

What a week in global technology.

Overnight on Thursday, news broke that NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang had resigned.

Huang left the company he had led for 33 years following the fallout of his alleged affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.

NVIDIA is the second-largest publicly listed company in the US and is likely held in most Australians' superannuation portfolios.

Then on Friday, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) endured an all-day global outage affecting Microsoft 365, Teams, and Outlook.

NVIDIA shares fell 11% last week; however, the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) still managed to rise 3.2%.

This strong lead from Wall Street helped propel Australian tech shares higher last week.

In addition, a surprisingly strong set of results from the tech sector's second-largest company buoyed the ASX 200 last week.

Accounting software-as-a-service provider Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) released its 1H FY27 results and announced a $1 billion buyback.

Xero also upgraded its earnings guidance for FY27. The Xero share price rose 8.75% to close at $76.93 on Friday.

The WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price rose 3.6% to $46.09.

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) shares fell 0.61% to $32.45, while Codan Ltd (ASX: CDA) rose 0.24% to $54.62 per share.

The Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price fell 3.56% to $10.03. Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) shares lifted 5.51% to $18.

The Life360 Inc (ASX: 360) share price lost 5.3% to finish the week at $21.26 following the release of 3Q FY26 results on Tuesday.

The Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR) share price lifted 2.23% to $14.46.

Tech shares are undergoing a choppy recovery from a 48% slump between August 2025 and March 2026 induced by fears over AI.

Since the sector's trough on 30 March, the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) has rallied 20.5%.

This compares to a 7.3% lift for the ASX 200 over the same period.

ASX 200 market sector snapshot

Here's how the 11 market sectors stacked up last week, according to CommSec data.

Over the five trading days:

S&P/ASX 200 market sector	Change last week
Information Technology (ASX: XIJ)	2.18%
Industrials (ASX: XNJ)	2.02%
Energy (ASX: XEJ)	1.53%
Materials (ASX: XMJ)	1.36%
Utilities (ASX: XUJ)	1.02%
A-REIT (ASX: XPJ)	0.39%
Financials (ASX: XFJ)	0.3%
Healthcare (ASX: XHJ)	0.16%
Communication (ASX: XTJ)	(0.07%)
Consumer Discretionary (ASX: XDJ)	(0.27%)
Consumer Staples (ASX: XSJ)	(0.85%)

The post Tech shares led the ASX 200 amid NVIDIA scandal and Microsoft outage last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Life360, Microsoft, Nvidia, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Dicker Data, Life360, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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