U.S. Indexes In Holding Pattern Amid Valuation Worries and Rate Path Uncertainty

Barry Adams
03 Dec, 2025
New York City

Stocks seesawed in early trading and attempted to extend the previous week's gains ahead of rate decisions next week.

The S&P 500 index edged up 0.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched higher by 0.2% as investors speculated on the rate path. 

The U.S. Federal Reserve is set to announce its rate decisions on December 10, and investors are hoping that policymakers will deliver a rate cut, setting aside worries of resurgent inflation. 

Investors are cautiously optimistic about holiday sales, despite tariff-driven price increases and a softening job market.

Moreover, leading tech companies are likely to continue their elevated levels of investment in data centers, as tech players jostle for market share.  

For the year so far as of Tuesday's close, the S&P 500 index is up 16%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 21.3%. 

In commodities, crude oil prices advanced 1.5% to $59.45 a barrel as traders weighed attacks on Russia's oil assets against oversupply in the seaborne export market. 

Gold hovered around $4,210 an ounce as traders held out for a rebound in demand from major central banks in the months ahead as policymakers lighten their holdings of the U.S. dollar. 

The Trump administration is actively seeking to devalue the U.S. dollar, and the worries of elevated federal government debt are pushing major central banks away from the world's most heavily traded currency. 

 

U.S. Movers 

Okta decreased 3.5% to $78.98 after the cybersecurity company reported results of the fiscal third quarter ending in October.  

Revenue increased 12% to $742 million from $665 million, net income soared to $43 million from $16 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to 24 cents from breakeven a year ago. 

Okta estimated fiscal 2026 revenue to range between $2.906 billion and $2.908 billion, adjusted operating income to fall between $753 million and $755 million, and adjusted diluted earnings per share between $3.43 and $3.44. 

Marvell Technology soared 11.2% to $103.30 after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results and announced an acquisition. 

Revenue increased to $2.1 billion from $1.5 billion, net income swung to a profit of $1.9 billion from a loss of $676.3 million, and diluted earnings per share increased to a profit of $2.20 from a loss of 78 cents a year ago. 

Marvell estimated fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $2.2 billion and diluted net income per share of 36 cents. 

On August 14, Marvell completed the sale of its automotive Ethernet business to Infineon Technologies AG for $2.5 billion in cash, resulting in a pre-tax gain of $1.8 billion. 

"Marvell's results for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 include the results of the automotive ethernet business through the sale date, while prior periods presented include the results of the automotive ethernet business for the entire period," the company added in a statement released to investors. 

Marvell agreed to acquire Celestial AI for an upfront cost of $3.25 billion, including $1 billion in cash and 27.2 million of its common stock. 

The company agreed to pay an additional $2.25 billion to Celestial AI shareholders if the data datacenter operator meets certain revenue milestones. 

The full earnout would be paid if Celestial AI’s cumulative revenue by the end of Marvell’s fiscal year 2029 exceeds $2.0 billion.