5 things to know before the stock market opens Wednesday

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Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Shares of Nvidia and Alphabet have diverged in recent days as the latter steps into the artificial intelligence spotlight. With some market watchers wondering if the Google parent will take the lead on AI, Nvidia attempted to reassure investors of its dominance in the industry.

Here’s the rundown:

Alphabet shares rose to all-time highs yesterday, the latest sign of trader excitement following the release of the tech giant’s upgraded Gemini 3 model last week. Shares of the Google parent also appeared to get a boost from a report that Meta is considering purchasing the company’s AI chips. Nvidia shares meanwhile closed down more than 2% yesterday.The AI darling defended its technology following the Meta report, saying in a social media statement that it is “a generation ahead of the industry.” While Nvidia said it’s a supplier for Google, the company asserted that its chips are more powerful than competitors’ products. Shares of Alphabet are up more than 1% in premarket trading. Nvidia shares, on the other hand, ticked down further this morning.Elsewhere on the AI front, Dell said yesterday that it was expecting a strong fourth quarter thanks to AI sales.

The stock market’s recovery rally continued yesterday. This time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average led the charge: The blue-chip index climbed more than 660 points, or 1.4%. Follow live markets updates here.

Investors appeared to be focused on the outlook for another interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s December gathering. Fed funds traders are pricing in an 84% likelihood of a rate decrease, up from around 50% just a week ago, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Fed funds futures rose after Bloomberg reported that White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett — who’s seen as likely to advocate for further cuts — is a front runner to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC yesterday that there’s a “very good chance” that President Donald Trump will announce the Fed’s next leader “before Christmas.”

Ukraine is willing to move forward with the U.S.-backed framework for a peace deal that would end its yearslong war with Russia, according to several news reports.

Trump said at the White House yesterday that “we’re getting very close to a deal,” adding on social media that there were just “a few remaining points of disagreement.” He said he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin “when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages.”

A Putin aide told reporters today that Russia hasn’t officially received a revised draft of the deal, which is widely considered favorable to Russia. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is slated to travel to Moscow next week to meet with Putin.

“The Big Short” investor Michael Burry rose to fame by predicting the 2008 housing crash. Now, he has set his sights on a new topic: AI.

After deregistering his hedge fund Scion Asset Management, Burry launched a blog focused on why he thinks the AI trade is a bubble. Key to Burry’s criticism is the skepticism of Phil Clifton, a former Scion associate portfolio manager who believes that the costs of the industry’s infrastructure buildout boom haven’t been justified.

Nvidia is pushing back. CNBC’s Yun Li reported that the chipmaker quietly shared with analysts a private memo that mentioned Burry by name when rebuking his claims.

Homeowners are yanking “For Sale” signs out of their yards at an unusually high rate. Redfin reported yesterday that nearly 85,000 U.S. sellers took their homes off the market in September, marking the highest level for the month in eight years.

As CNBC’s Diana Olick reports, weak demand from buyers, falling home prices and an overall feeling of economic uncertainty might be contributing to sellers’ decisions to stay put. Redfin found that around 15% of delisted homes were at risk of selling at a loss.

Also yesterday, Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index in November fell to its lowest level since April. The group cited weak employment prospects as a driver of the decline.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing, Arjun Kharpal, Sean Conlon, Jeff Cox, Kevin Breuninger, Yun Li, Holly Ellyatt, Diana Olick and Luke Fountain contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.