Dropbox stock falls after CFO Regan announces resignation

Investing.com -- Amazon has reached an agreement with Italy’s tax collection agency to pay €510 million ($582 million) to settle a tax dispute in the country, according to reporting from Reuters, citing sources close to the matter.

Despite this settlement, Milan prosecutors plan to continue their investigation into the U.S. tech company. The prosecutors suspect tax evasion amounting to approximately €1.2 billion related to the period between 2019 and 2021.

The investigation by Milan prosecutors is expected to conclude early next year, sources familiar with the investigation said.

The unusual situation has created a split between Italian authorities, with the tax collection agency accepting the settlement while prosecutors pursue their separate probe.

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Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed Wednesday as investors cautiously awaited the conclusion of a Federal Reserve meeting, which is likely to determine risk sentiment going into the new year.

At 11:42AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 247 points, or 0.5%, the S&P 500 index gained 3 points, or 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite fell 62 points, or 0.3%.

Fed’s decision in spotlight

The U.S. central bank concludes its last policy-setting meeting this year later in the session, and is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points.

Bets on a cut were furthered by some signs of cooling labor strength in recent months. But markets remained wary of any hawkish signals from the central bank, given that it will still lack key data points for October and November going into its final meeting for the year.

“A 25bp cut is practically certain. It’s 90% discounted. Not delivering is not really a viable option, given the way the Fed behaves. But, expect a hawkish cut, with a pause to be heavily intimated for the January meeting,” ING analysts said in a note.

While markets are widely confident that a rate cut is impending, media reports have said policymakers could be unusually divided over such a move, citing worries over sticky price gains and a relative dearth of fresh economic data due to a record-long government shutdown. A new summary of Fed members’ economic projections is also slated to be unveiled.

"The end-of-2025 dots will show the still divided stance of the committee, and will reveal what [Chair Jerome] Powell was up against," said analysts at ABN Amro, in a note. "The 2026 dots will likely be dispersed, with both substantial rate cuts, rate hikes, and everything in between, reflecting the uncertainty in the outlook."

Trump to begin final round of Fed interviews - WSJ

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is aiming to begin the final round of interviews for the next Fed Chair in the coming days, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Citing senior administration officials, the WSJ said Trump and some of his aides are scheduled to interview former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh on Wednesday, and meet with other candidates soon.

One of those will be Kevin Hassett, the White House economic adviser many reports have described as the frontrunner to replace Powell when his term at the helm of the Fed ends next year.

Oracle, Adobe earnings awaited

Beyond the Fed meeting, focus this week is also on earnings from cloud and chipmaking majors Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) after Wednesday’s close, for more cues on the AI trade.

Fueled by a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Oracle has transformed its image this year from a smaller player in the cloud business to an essential provider of the rented computing power needed to underpin AI models.

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) is also due to report its latest quarterly earnings after the closing bell on Wall Street.

Shares of the firm behind creative products like Photoshop and Acrobat have slumped by more than 21% so far this year, easily underperforming the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.

Elsewhere, AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) stock fell after the drone maker missed second-quarter earnings expectations and cut its outlook, while Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL) stock slumped after the restaurant chain cut its sales outlook for its fiscal year, citing “unique and ongoing headwinds" as it struggles to recover from a poorly-received rebrand.

On the flip side, Chewy Inc (NYSE:CHWY) stock rose after the online pet retailer reported third-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations, demonstrating strong profitability growth alongside solid revenue gains.

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Crude slips lower

Oil prices fell Wednesday, as investors weighed a sharp drop in U.S. crude stocks, Ukraine peace talks and a potential rate cut by the Federal Reserve later in the day.

Brent futures dropped 0.5% to $61.64 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.6% to $57.92 a barrel.

Both contracts have slipped nearly 3% in the last two sessions, amid concerns a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia could bring about the removal of international sanctions on Russian companies, which could free up restricted oil supply.

However, data from the American Petroleum Institute, released on Tuesday, showed U.S. commercial crude stocks fell by 4.8 million barrels in the week to Dec. 5, far deeper than the roughly 1.7 million-barrel draw analysts had expected.

The draw suggests stronger demand or tighter supply, offering a near-term boost to crude sentiment, as does the expected Fed rate cut.

Ambar Warrick contributed to this article

Investing.com -- Marvell Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MRVL) shares surged over 2.7% Wednesday, paring some losses after CEO Matt Murphy forcefully denied reports that the semiconductor company had lost key business with hyperscale customers Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).

In a Tuesday interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Murphy aggressively pushed back on speculation that had sent the stock spiraling earlier in the week, insisting, “from Tuesday to Friday, nothing changed. We didn’t lose any business.”

Marvell initially rose after its recent earnings beat and strong data center outlook, plus the announcement of a $3.35 billion acquisition of Celestial AI. However, the stock gave back gains this week following two bearish reports:

1. Microsoft & Broadcom: The Information reported that Microsoft was discussing future custom chip designs with Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO), potentially diverting future business from Marvell.

2. Amazon Loss: Benchmark downgraded MRVL to Hold, citing high conviction that Marvell had lost Amazon’s Tranium 3 and 4 chip designs to Alchip, explaining Marvell’s projected 20% XPU growth in 2026.

Murphy countered these concerns by stressing the data center business is "rock solid," and framed the subsequent stock drop as an investment opportunity. 

Reinforcing its dedication to AI infrastructure, Marvell announced two strategic initiatives this week:

• PCIe Retimer Adoption: The company announced industry adoption of its Alaska P PCIe retimers, essential components for high-speed, low-latency connections in advanced AI servers. Key partners like Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI) and TE Connectivity Ltd (NYSE:TEL) are integrating the technology.

• ’Golden Cable’ Initiative: Marvell launched a program to accelerate the Active Electrical Cable (AEC) ecosystem, critical for short-reach connectivity in high-density AI racks. This initiative provides validated designs and firmware to partners like Foxconn, aiming to capitalize on the AEC market.

Elsewhere, Stifel analyst Tore Svanberg reiterated a Buy rating and $114.00 price target on Wednesday, highlighting Marvell’s comprehensive approach.

“Marvell is building an end-to-end connectivity portfolio for AI infrastructure, uniquely spanning every layer of data-center interconnect,” Svanberg commented. This vertically integrated stack supports the full architecture of modern AI systems, lending weight to Murphy’s assertion that the underlying business remains robust.

Investing.com – Poland stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Energy, Basic Materials and Media sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Warsaw, the WIG30 gained 0.50% to hit a new 1-month high.

The best performers of the session on the WIG30 were Rainbow Tours SA (WA:RBW), which rose 5.96% or 8.10 points to trade at 144.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Tauron Polska Energia SA (WA:TPE) added 5.52% or 0.47 points to end at 9.03 and CCC SA (WA:CCCP) was up 3.77% or 4.40 points to 121.05 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were CD PROJEKT SA (WA:CDR), which fell 2.93% or 7.40 points to trade at 245.40 at the close. 11BIT (WA:11B) declined 2.81% or 4.50 points to end at 155.60 and Kruk SA (WA:KRU) was down 1.72% or 8.30 points to 473.70.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Warsaw Stock Exchange by 278 to 260 and 114 ended unchanged.

Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.81% or 0.47 to $57.78 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.74% or 0.46 to hit $61.48 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.17% or 7.10 to trade at $4,229.10 a troy ounce.

EUR/PLN was unchanged 0.04% to 4.23, while USD/PLN fell 0.14% to 3.63.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.19% at 99.01.