Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Looking for action
We might see some real action from stocks Tuesday after a fairly ho-hum session Monday that nonetheless ended with all three major indices slightly higher. There weren't any meaningful developments out of Washington on the debt ceiling (see below), earnings have slowed to a trickle, and it appears the Federal Reserve is likely going to keep rates in place for a while. The nation's top banking regulators, including Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr, are set to appear before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, a hearing that could provide further clues on the state of the regional banking sector after recent failures. Fed Presidents Raphael Bostic of Atlanta, John Williams of New York and Austan Goolsbee of Chicago are slated to speak elsewhere Tuesday. Follow live market updates.
2. Debt ceiling update
President Joe Biden might be optimistic about the direction of talks to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, but his Republican foil, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, doesn't think things have gotten better since they met last week. While White House and congressional staff have met daily in a bid to hammer out a deal to avoid a debt default, on the surface, at least, it doesn't look like there's been much progress ahead of Tuesday afternoon's planned meeting between Biden, McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Time is running short. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday reaffirmed that the U.S. is on track to run out of money to pay its bills as soon as June 1.
3. Gloomy report from Home Depot
Home Depot's earnings report is out, and it's not great. While the bottom line barely beat Wall Street's expectations, revenue came up short. In fact, it was the home improvement retailer's second consecutive revenue miss after previously posting 12 consecutive beats. Home Depot also lowered its same-store sales estimate for the year to a decline of 2% to 5%. Before, it had expected the metric to stay effectively flat. The company's lackluster results and outlook come as the retail stage of earnings season kicks off. Target reports Wednesday, Walmart posts its results Thursday, and Home Depot rival Lowe's is up a week from now.
4. Musk faces subpoena in Epstein case
The U.S. Virgin Islands has issued a subpoena to billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk in its lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for the bank's ties to the dead sex trafficker and predator Jeffrey Epstein. Specifically, the USVI government is seeking documents from Musk that show any communication involving him, Epstein and JPMorgan. The islands' government issued the subpoena out of suspicion that Epstein, who had relationships with rich and powerful men including Bill Gates and Prince Andrew, may have referred Musk to JPMorgan. The USVI has so far failed to serve Musk with the subpoena and is seeking the judge's OK to to do so through Tesla's registered agent. Musk, on Twitter, called the subpoena "idiotic on so many levels." Be sure to tune in to CNBC at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday, when David Faber will interview Musk live.
5. Russia hammers Kyiv
Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, faced a massive overnight strike from Russian forces that Ukrainian officials called "exceptional" in its ferocity. The blitz included drone strikes and missiles, starting fires and damaging property through the city. The intense barrage came as Ukraine prepares for a much-anticipated counteroffensive in a bid to drive Russia back from its occupied positions. Additionally, China's special representative on Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, is slated to visit Ukraine on Tuesday in an attempt to broker a peace deal. The diplomat also plans to visit Poland, France, Germany and Russia. Follow live war updates.
– CNBC's Brian Evans, Christina Wilkie, Emma Kinery, Melissa Repko, Robert Hum, Dan Mangan and Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.
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