Bitcoin rebounds above $90,000; Marvell spikes - what’s moving markets

Investing.com - Futures linked to the main U.S. indices tick slightly higher, as an uptick in risk-off sentiment to begin the week appears to fade. Bitcoin bounces back above the $90,000 level, while a selloff in government bonds stabilizes. Marvell shares spike in extended hours trading after the chipmaker unveils a multi-billion dollar deal for semiconductor startup Celestial AI and delivers upbeat guidance. Markets will be watching a metric of private sector hiring, and oil prices rise amid talks to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

Get the latest updates and insights on the biggest market-moving stories by upgrading to InvestingPro - get 55% off today.

1. Futures rise

U.S. stock futures pointed higher on Wednesday, as a slide in cryptocurrencies and bond markets earlier this week showed signs of stabilizing.

By 02:27 ET (07:27 GMT), the Dow futures contract had increased by 105 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 futures had risen by 15 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had ticked up by 63 points, or 0.2%.

The main averages on Wall Street advanced in the prior session, shrugging off some risk-off sentiment at the onset of the trading week.

Investors were now turning much of their focus back to expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this month. Odds of that the U.S. central bank will bring down borrowing costs by a quarter of a percentage point at the end of its December 9-10 gathering have hovered around 87%, CME FedWatch has shown, reflecting widespread bets that policymakers will feel comfortable providing support to a sputtering labor market despite signs of sticky inflation.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will name his pick as the next Fed Chair early in 2026, and had narrowed the list of candidates down to one. That person is widely tipped to be White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, who, as a close ally of Trump, is in turn expected to advocate for an easier monetary policy environment.

2. Bitcoin, bond slide steadies

Bitcoin was floating above $90,000, rebounding from a deep slide in the world’s largest digital asset at the start of the week.

At 02:58 ET, Bitcoin had jumped by 6.9% to $93,016.5, hovering around a two-week high -- but still far below an all-time peak reached only about a month-and-a-half ago.

Underpinning the risk-off sentiment in previous sessions was anticipation for a potential rate hike by the Bank of Japan, which sparked a selloff in global bonds that bled into cryptocurrencies and broader equities.

The slump in Bitcoin especially dented companies who have built large holdings of the digital asset, most notably Michael Saylor’s Strategy. Faced with the downturn, Strategy, which said it has 650,000 Bitcoins, or roughly 3.1% of the total 21 million in existence, cut its annual profit outlook.

Shares of the group tumbled on Monday, but pared back some of those gains a day later. In extended hours trading, the stock was marginally higher.

3. Marvell’s Celestial AI deal

Marvell Technology has confirmed a multi-billion deal to buy semiconductor startup Celestial AI, as the U.S. chipmaker looks to expand its compute capacity during an ongoing surge in demand driven by the artificial intelligence boom.

Crucially, the $3.25 billion transaction grants Marvell access to Celestial’s work on photonics, a process that harnesses light instead of electrical signals to establish connections between AI and memory chips. Marvell has been competing with rivals Broadcom and Nvidia in the race to build out AI-optimized chips, and CEO Matt Murphy has suggested that cloud-computing firms will begin using photonics technology as soon as 2027.

Meaningful revenue contributions from the Celestial acquisition are expected to materialize in the second half of Marvell’s fiscal 2028.

Murphy added that the California-based business estimates about $10 billion in total revenue for the next fiscal year, powered in large part by a 25% spike in data center revenue. Revenue from its custom chip unit may also increase by 20%, Murphy told investors in a post-earnings call.

Shares of Marvell, which have fallen sharply so far this year due to competition concerns and growing fears around a possible AI bubble, jumped by more than 8% in after-hours dealmaking.

4. ADP jobs report ahead

On the economic calendar, traders will be keeping tabs on a tracker of private payrolls growth in November.

Economists expect the data from payrolls processor ADP to show that the private sector in the U.S. added 5,000 roles last month, down from 42,000 in October.

The health of the labor market has been front of mind for investors, as it could heavily sway the trajectory of interest rates going forward.

Beyond the now-expected December rate cut, the path ahead for borrowing costs looks murky, in part because of a dearth of fresh official economic indicators due to a recently-ended federal government shutdown.

A gauge of nonfarm payrolls, viewed as more comprehensive than the ADP figures, for October was canceled. Instead, employment numbers for that month will be combined with those in November’s report -- meaning that October’s unemployment rate will never be known.

Given the relative lack of new data, Wall Street and policymakers alike have had to turn to alternative sources, such as those from ADP.

5. Oil inches up

Oil prices edged higher as an immediate deal to end the war in Ukraine looked unlikely, leaving a persistent threat to supply in play.

Brent futures climbed 0.6% to $62.80 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.7% to $59.06 a barrel.

Russia and the U.S. did not come to an agreement on a possible peace deal for Ukraine after a lengthy meeting between Russia President Vladimir Putin and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner late Tuesday.

Oil markets are awaiting the outcome of the talks to see if a deal could lead to the removal of sanctions on Russian companies that would free up restricted oil supply.

Rising U.S. inventories also added to the concerns about a crude surplus, after the American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday that crude stocks rose by 2.48 million barrels in the week ended November 28.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release official government stockpile data later on Wednesday.