Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures step higher as Wall Street regains its nerve

• StockStory Top Pick CRWD -0.99% HOOD -4.09%
• BTC-USD +1.44% YM=F +0.11% NQ=F +0.41%

US stock futures edged higher on Tuesday, eyeing a cautious comeback after a fragile start to December trading that saw sharp losses on Wall Street and in crypto.

S&P 500 (ES=F) futures rose 0.3%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) added 0.4%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) moved up roughly 0.2%.

Stocks are poised to regain some ground as markets begin to shake off the risk-off sentiment that dominated on Monday, snapping five-day winning streaks for the three major US indexes. The losses marked a rocky start to December — typically a strong month for equities — and added fuel to a debate over the chances of a so-called Santa Claus rally.

In another sign of recovering spirits, bitcoin (BTC-USD) edged into the green to trade above $87.000, putting the brakes on a weeks-long skid. On Monday, the top cryptocurrency tumbled to as low as $84,000 in its worst day since March. Meanwhile, shares of crypto-linked names Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) also turned upbeat, after closing more than 4% lower.

Investors are now watching for catalysts that could revive a year-end rally, against a background of persistent concerns over stubborn inflation, stretched market valuations and the uncertain payoff from heavy AI spending.

Data on the economy is in focus, as delayed government reports are slowly released and feed into prospects for a December interest-rate cut — though signs that tariffs are undermining US factory activity on Monday left expectations broadly intact.

Bets on easing have ramped up sharply ahead of the central bank's two-day meeting next week. Markets are pricing in an 87% probability of a cut on Dec. 10, up significantly from mid-November, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

No notable updates are expected on Tuesday in the countdown to this week's marquee release: the September print of the consumer inflation index watched by the Fed.

On the earnings front, Marvell (MRVL) is set to release results after market close. The US chipmaker's stock rose in premarket after The Information reported it is in advanced talks to buy chip start-up Celestial AI in a multibillion-dollar deal. Crowdstrike (CRWD) and Okta (OKTA) are also on Tuesday's light docket.

• 16 mins ago Jenny McCall

  Premarket trending tickers: Snowflake, Marvell and Strategy

  Snowflake (SNOW) stock rose 4% before the bell on Tuesday. The cloud-based data storage company has seen its stock rise 44% this year. The group is also scheduled to release its earnings after the bell today.

  Marvell (MRVL) stock rose more than 1% during premarket trading on Tuesday. The US chipmaker is in advanced talks to buy chip startup Celestial AI in a ‌cash-and-stock deal worth multiple billions of dollars, according to The Information.

  Strategy (MSTR) rebounded on Tuesday before the bell and rose 1%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) tumbled as much as 8% on Monday alongside crypto-related stocks, like Strategy, which closed 3% down on Monday.

• 18 mins ago Karen Friar

  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bank-of-america-says-its-wealth-management-clients-may-put-up-to-4-of-their-portfolio-in-crypto-220028738.html

  Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports:

  Bank of America (BAC) says its wealth management clients should start thinking about getting some crypto exposure in their portfolios.

  The firm is endorsing a 1%-4% allocation to digital assets for clients of its Merrill, Bank of America Private Bank, and Merrill Edge platforms. Its investment strategists will begin covering four bitcoin ETFs in January.

  ... Starting Jan. 5, the firm's CIO-covered bitcoin ETFs will include the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC), and BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).

  "The lower end of this range may be more appropriate for those with a conservative risk profile, while the higher end may suit investors with greater tolerance for overall portfolio risk," Chris Hyzy, chief investment officer at Bank of America Private Bank, said.

• Today at 9:52 AM UTC Grace O'Donnell

  MongoDB stock soars after revenue tops guidance, management issues upbeat full-year outlook

  MongoDB (MDB) stock rocketed up 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the cloud software company reported revenue well above its guidance for the third quarter.

  Strength in the Atlas platform drove an increase in revenue, which reached $628.3 million in the quarter, a 19% year-over-year increase. The company previously guided for revenue between $587 million and $592 million.

  MongoDB also recorded a $0.02 loss per share in its results on Monday, shallower than the $0.78 per share loss analysts were expecting, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

  "Q3 was an exceptional quarter," MongoDB CEO CJ Desai said. "Existing customers are expanding with us and net-new customer additions continue to show strength. Companies across industries and geographies are choosing MongoDB because we provide a unified data platform that powers mission-critical workloads today and also positions them to capitalize on the emerging AI platform shift."

  For the full year, the company expects revenue to hit $2.434 billion to $2.439 billion, up from its previous guidance of $2.34 billion to $2.36 billion.

• Today at 9:49 AM UTC Karen Friar

  Crypto's retail traders hit hard as Strategy ETFs plunge 80%

  Bloomberg reports:

  Retail investors who piled into Michael Saylor’s grand bitcoin (BTC-USD) experiment are paying a heavy price.

  Strategy Inc. (MSTR) — the company once hailed for wrapping crypto exposure into a public stock — is scrambling to calm markets after its shares plunged more than 60% from recent highs, amid a sweeping digital-currency rout.

  On Monday, Strategy said it had created a $1.4 billion reserve to fund dividend and interest payments, hoping to calm fears that it may be forced to sell bitcoin if prices fall further.

  But for many investors, the damage is already done. The most popular exchange-traded funds tracking Strategy’s volatile stock — MSTX and MSTU, which offer double the daily return — have both dropped more than 80% this year.

  That puts them among the 10 worst-performing funds in the entire US ETF market, out of more than 4,700 products currently trading — just behind obscure short bets against gold miners and semiconductor stocks.

  A third fund, known as MSTP, launched during the crypto mania in June, is down a similar amount since its debut. Together, the trio has lost about $1.5 billion in assets since early October.

  Read more here.

• Today at 6:31 AM UTC Rian Howlett

  Asian shares make ground as US stocks slide

  Indexes across Asia saw solid gains throughout Tuesday's trading session as regional gauges made headway against Wall Street's decline, buoyed by rising global bond yields.

  Reuters reports:

  Read more here.