US stocks stepped higher on Tuesday, on track for a comeback after a fragile start to December trading that saw sharp losses on Wall Street and in crypto.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added roughly 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.4%.

Stocks are regaining ground as markets 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) rose to trade above $91,000, 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 getting hit the day before.

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 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.

Intel (INTC) stock swung about 7% higher on Tuesday, hitting a 52-week high, as rumors swirled that the company could begin supplying chips to Apple (AAPL) in as little as two years.

Shares of the US-based chipmaker have climbed 19% over the past five days after analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote on X that Intel could begin shipping Apple’s lowest-end M processor as early as 2027.

\\"There have long been market rumors that Intel could become an advanced-node foundry supplier to Apple, but visibility around this had remained low,\\" Kuo wrote. \\"My latest industry surveys, however, indicate that visibility on Intel becoming an advanced-node supplier to Apple has recently improved significantly.\\"

Intel also recently pledged a $208 million investment to expand its assembly and testing operations in Malaysia, the country's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. Malaysia makes up nearly 13% of the global market for chip assembly and testing, according to GlobalData.

Yahoo Finance's Laura Bratton reports:

OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) CEO Sam Altman has issued an urgent memo to employees to accelerate improvements to ChatGPT as competition intensifies from rival AI developers Google (GOOG, GOOG) and Anthropic (ANTH.PVT).

Altman told employees in an internal memo on Monday that he was declaring a \\"code red\\" to dedicate resources toward bettering ChatGPT, given the pressure from rivals, The Information reported. The move will delay OpenAI's work of introducing other products, such as AI agents, the outlet said.

Google introduced its latest AI model, Gemini 3, in November, to widespread praise. The debut sent the stock soaring to a record high as Gemini 3 beat ChatGPT on benchmark tests that score AI models' performance.

Read more here.

Boeing (BA) stock jumped 8% in early trading after CFO Jesus Malave said that the company expects higher deliveries next year and after its main rival, Airbus (AIR.PA), faced a delivery setback.

At the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference, Malave said Boeing's recovery \\"is in full force\\" and that the company will be ramping up production and deliveries in 2026. Though he noted deliveries in November may be \\"a little light.\\"

\\"We expect, absolutely, deliveries to be up in both cases, both 737 and both 787,\\" Malave said. \\"When you now fast-forward to 2026, we're going to be increasing our deliveries, but there won't be hardly any aircraft, if any at all, that will be coming out of inventory. So it will be really through the production rollout system that will be the source of the deliveries.\\"

Meanwhile, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told Reuters that the company discovered a panel issue with some of its A320 jets that will impact the planemaker's year-end deliveries. The issue has already resulted in \\"weak\\" November deliveries, Faury said, and the company is assessing whether it will impact the year-end target of \\"around 820\\" jets delivered.

The gain in Boeing stock helped lift the Dow 0.3% during Tuesday's trading.

US stocks moved higher at the open on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added roughly 0.4%.

The gains come after a stocks slipped Monday to start December trading, snapping a five-day winning streak.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) settled on Tuesday after suffering its worst day since March on Monday.

The world's largest cryptocurrency bounced back by more than 1.5% in premarket trading after it tumbled 8% on Monday from a level around $91,000 to as low as $84,000. Bitcoin is now more than 30% off its all-time high of around $126,000.

Other cryptocurrencies, including XRP (XRP-USD), rose on Tuesday while ether (ETH-USD) fell another 0.3%.

Concerns that Japan's central bank would raise interest rates, coupled with a hack on a DeFi platform, helped fuel the sell-off in crypto on Monday. Strategists also noted that weak sentiment contributed to the downdraft in digital assets.

\\"I don't think that this is really a crypto winter yet,\\" FG Nexus CEO of digital assets Maja Vujinovic told Yahoo Finance on Monday. \\"This is simply kind of a risk-off shakeout from the market.\\"

Crypto stocks, which are highly correlated with crypto moves, also recovered somewhat in premarket trading. Coinbase (COIN) climbed 1.8%, while Strategy (MSTR) added 1.7%. Robinhood rose 1.3%.

Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion on Tuesday to President Trump's investment accounts for children, providing 25 million children under 10 with an incentive to claim the new investment.

The AP reports:

The historic gift has little precedent, with few single charitable commitments in the past 25 years exceeding $1 billion, much less multiple billions. Announced on GivingTuesday, the Dells believe it’s the largest single private commitment made to U.S. children.

It is also unusual in that it will operate through investment accounts set up by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that will be managed by private companies. Dubbed “Trump Accounts,” the program has not yet launched but was passed into law on July 4 as part of the president's signature legislation.

Through their gift, the Dells will deposit $250 into each qualified child's investment account, which they said the Treasury plans to launch on July 4, 2026. Dell said they wanted to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.

Read more here.

Economic data: No notable economic data.

Earnings: CrowdStrike (CRWD), The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Okta (OKTA), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO)

Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:

Why the 'tug of war' in stocks will keep playing out

Congress has just weeks to tackle healthcare, AI

Gas prices fall to $3 a gallon, hitting lowest level since 2021

OECD lifts US growth forecast in face of tariffs

Crypto traders hit hard as Strategy ETFs plunge 80%

Big Tech 'spend little, earn lots' playbook is threatened by AI

Marvell in talks to buy Celestial AI in multibillion-dollar deal: report

OpenAI's Altman declares ChatGPT 'code red' as rivals gain

Samsung debuts first trifold phone as Apple plays catch-up

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.

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.

Read more here.

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.

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.

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:

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 (^N225) gained 0.5% to 49,534.36, with financial shares the biggest gainers after the governor of the central bank hinted at a possible hike to interest rates this month.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng (^HSI) jumped 0.7% to 26,209.07, while the Shanghai Composite (000888.SS)index slipped 0.3% to 3,902.78.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (^AXJO) added 0.2% to 8,582.80.

The Kospi (^KS11) in South Korea jumped 1.5% to 3,977.85, led by buying of technology shares like Samsung Electronics, which surged 2.8%. Chip maker SK Hynix leaped 3.4%.

Taiwan's benchmark Taiex climbed 1%, while the Sensex in India edged 0.1% lower.

Read more here.