The S&P 500 finished Tuesday's session in the red.

The index closed down 0.16% to 7,400.96. The Nasdaq Composite also fell 0.71% to 26,088.20, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 56.09 points, or 0.11%, to 49,760.56.

— Sean Conlon

Greenlight Capital president David Einhorn said he missed the market's recent rebound, but remains concerned about lofty valuations.

"I have thought the market is very highly valued for a few years, honestly," Einhorn told CNBC on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Sohn Conference in New York.

Einhorn said being on defense over the last six weeks hasn't been the "best position" as he has not benefitted from the market's "V"-shaped recovery. But he said stocks remain "very, very pricey" on a historical basis.

"Sooner or later, I think we'll wind up with a better opportunity," Einhorn said.

— Alex Harring

Investor Jim Chanos told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Tuesday that he's still short Tesla.

The president and founder of Chanos & Company said that he thinks the weakness of the company's electric vehicle business outweighs the potential growth it may have from the artificial intelligence buildout.

"Tesla is the hopes and dreams stock in this market," he said. "People are willing to believe it's going to be data centers in space, via SpaceX, and Terafabs," referencing Elon Musk's planned semiconductor manufacturing plant. "I doubt most of that. The core business has been declining now for a number of years."

Chanos first revealed his short in Tesla in 2016.

— Davis Giangiulio

The U.S. government ran a $215 billion surplus in April, down 17% from a year ago even as tariff collections increases, the Treasury Department said Tuesday.

An increase in outlays combined with a decrease in receipts contributed to the shortfall, which takes the year-to-date deficit down to $953 billion. Also, net interest on the national debt totaled $97 billion, the biggest expense of all categories excluding Social Security.

Even with a court decision striking down many of President Donald Trump's tariffs, customs receipts increased to nearly $24 billion on the month, up 46% from the same period a year ago.

— Jeff Cox

Apple shares were 0.6% higher in afternoon trading on Tuesday, putting it on pace for a fresh record close.

The stock had reached a new all-time intraday high during the session.

— Sean Conlon

Kevin Warsh took another step towards becoming Federal Reserve chair on Tuesday, clearing a key Senate vote that puts him on the central bank Board of Governors.

The upper chamber voted to approve Warsh's nomination by a 51-45 vote, on a mostly party-line basis. Only Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., crossed lines to vote for President Donald Trump's pick.

Next up for the nominee, who sat on the board from 2006 to 2011, is the vote to be chair, which is expected Wednesday.

Terms for governors last 14 years, while the chair's term goes for four years. Read more.

— Jeff Cox

Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday:

• Vestis – The uniform and apparel maker surged more than 30% after its fiscal second-quarter results beat expectations. Vestis also raised its fiscal 2026 EBITDA outlook.
• Zebra Technologies – The automation stock popped 17% on better-than-expected Q1 results. Zebra earned $4.75 per share, excluding certain items, on revenue of $1.5 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit of $4.25 per share on revenue of $1.48 billion. Q2 guidance also exceeded estimates.
• Ralliant – The maker of high precision instruments and sensors jumped 14% on the back of first-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. Ralliant earned an adjusted 57 cents per share. That's above the company's guidance and a FactSet consensus of 49 cents per share.

Read here for the full list.

— Fred Imbert and Sarah Min

Chip stocks dropped on Tuesday, pulling back from a massive rally that broadened the artificial intelligence trade beyond Nvidia and propelled the sector to new highs.

Qualcomm plummeted 13% and headed for its worst session since 2020. Intel dropped 8%, while On Semiconductor and Skyworks Solutions declined more than 6% each. The iShares Semiconductor ETF tracking the sector sank 5%.

Tuesday's declines followed a hotter-than-expected reading of a key consumer inflation measure as the war in Iran lifts oil prices, sending investors into risk-off mode. Read more.

— Samantha Subin

The central debate on Wall Street is starting to sound something like this: Bears say, "It's starting to look like 1999 – sell tech stocks," while bulls counter, "It's starting to look like 1999 – buy tech."

This disagreement over whether to embrace or recoil from the market's resemblance to the final frenzy of the late-'90s tech-dominated bull market grows in part from certain technical extremes being reached combined with atmospheric similarities to a former moment of all-consuming attention on a tech innovation wave.

The semiconductor sector as measured by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has only ever been this overbought relative to its 200-day moving average twice: In early 2000 and before that in 1995. In 2000, it coincided with a generational market peak. In 1995, semis fell into their own bear marlet even as the broad indexes continued higher.  

The only times before last week when the S&P 500 hit a record high with so many of its stocks reaching fresh 52-week lows new lows were at or near important market tops, including near the end of the '90s bull. Bespoke Investment Group added on Monday: "Since 1996, the only other period where we saw the S&P at record highs with fewer than 60% of stocks above their 50- and 200-DMAs was from late 1998 to early 2000." Read more.

— Michael Santoli

Citi sees better-than-expected sales on the way for Nvidia, and therefore is maintaining its confidence in the stock.

The bank reiterated its buy rating and $300 price target ahead of the chipmaker's earnings report due May 20. That target level would represent a nearly 37% gain from Monday's close. Analyst Atif Malik wrote in a Tuesday note that he estimates the company's sales will reach nearly $80 billion, above consensus estimates for $78.6 billion.

Malik also said that he sees the total addressable market for data centers in 2028 rising too. "We expect the total 2028 data center semis TAM to now reach $851B, 16% above our prior expectation of $731B. The 16% increase in GPU/Custom ASIC TAM is primarily driven by higher-than-expected demand for ASIC," an application-specific integrated circuit, which are custom chips for particular uses. 

Nvidia shares hit an all-time intraday high in morning trading Tuesday. 

— Davis Giangiulio

April's inflation report will probably make policymakers at the Federal Reserve more concerned about "renewed signs of food inflation accelerating, given the risk that higher gasoline and food prices together will further boost households' inflation expectations," Capital Economics chief North America economist Stephen Brown wrote Tuesday.

The 2.1% rise in monthly electricity prices, compared with March, and 0.5% gain in monthly food prices from the prior month were both upward surprises, Brown said.

"President Trump might feel in a greater rush to sign the reported executive order to remove tariffs on beef imports, with a 2.7% [month-over-month] jump there adding to the impact of a larger 1.8% m/m rise in fruit & vegetable prices. The latter appears to mainly reflect drought conditions in much of North America with, for example, tomato prices soaring by 15% m/m for the second month running," according to Capital Economics.

— Scott Schnipper

The S&P 500 began Tuesday's session in the red.

The broad market index fell 0.3% shortly after the opening bell, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded around the flatline.

— Sean Conlon

Micron is cooling off in premarket trading on Tuesday after a parabolic run in recent weeks, driven by demand for CPUs.

The stock is down more than 2.5% Tuesday morning, after jumping 6.5% on Monday. Last week the stock rose 37.7%. It soared by 53% in April after dropping by 18% in March.

Memory chips are proving to be a bottleneck in the current phase of the AI buildout, giving chipmakers pricing power to boost margins. 

Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron dominate the market. They received 95% of DRAM revenues and 67% of NAND revenues in 2021, according to research from Omdia published by the Semiconductor Industry Association, a DC lobby.

— Tobias Burns

The consumer price index rose by 3.8% annually in April, the most since May 2023. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected an increase of 3.7% from the year-earlier period.

Excluding food and energy, inflation rose by 2.8% annually.

Read more here.

— Fred Imbert

Citi is getting bullish on Lowe's heading into next week's earnings report.

The bank upgraded the home improvement name to buy from neutral. It maintained its $285 price target on shares, suggesting 26% upside from Monday's close. 

Lowe's is scheduled to post first-quarter results May 20 before the bell. LSEG data shows that analysts overall expect the company's bottom line grew only marginally to start the year. Citi is more optimistic.

"LOW should beat 1Q street estimates and continue to outperform the industry … in 2026," analyst Steven Zaccone said in a note. "The macro has risks of geopolitical tensions escalating, but we still believe the home improvement industry has bottomed and remain optimistic on the multi-year recovery."

Lowe's stock has declined 6% since the beginning of this year, underperforming the overall market, as economic uncertainties tank consumer sentiment to record lows amid the Iran war. But while consumers are showing signs of tightening their purse strings, that doesn't mean the company's bottom line is likely to come under considerable pressure, according to Citi's Zaccone. 

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Liz Napolitano

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Under Armour — The sportswear company slid 14% after posting a loss of 3 cents on revenue of $1.17 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG were anticipating a loss of 2 cents on revenue of $1.68 billion.
• GameStop, eBay — Shares of GameStop dropped more than 4% after online retailer eBay turned down a $56 billion takeover bid Tuesday from the electronics retailer over doubts over the financing of the deal. Shares of Ebay were slightly lower.
• On Holding — The running shoes maker fell 5% in the premarket even after it reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations. On also reiterated its full-year net sales growth outlook and increased its earnings guidance.

Read the full list here.

— Sarah Min

Wendy's shares rallied more than 9% after The Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management was looking to raise funds for a bid to take the fast food chain private.

The stock has fallen 45% over the past year.

— Fred Imbert

Shares of GameStop fell more than 3% after eBay rejected the video game retailer's bid to take over the digital auction and e-commerce platform.

"The Board, with the support of its independent advisors, has thoroughly reviewed your proposal and has determined to reject it," eBay Chairman Paul Pressler wrote in a letter addressed to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen.

"We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive. We have taken into account such factors as 1) eBay's standalone prospects, 2) the uncertainty regarding your financing proposal, 3) the impact of your proposal on eBay's long-term growth and profitability, 4) the leverage, operational risks, and leadership structure of a combined entity, 5) the resulting implications of these factors on valuation, and 6) GameStop's governance and executive incentives," Pressler wrote.

— Fred Imbert

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.8% on Tuesday morning, with most sectors lower and major bourses in London, Paris, Milan and Frankfurt all in negative territory.

Yields on U.K. government bonds, known as gilts, rose sharply as Prime Minister Keir Starmer's premiership hangs by a thread after his ruling Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local council elections last week.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt was last seen almost 12 basis points higher at 5.126%, as government ministers joined more than 70 Labour lawmakers in calling for the Prime Minister to resign or set out a timetable for departure.

Shares in British banks tumbled, with Natwest down 4.7%, Lloyds sliding 4.3% and Barclays falling 4.1%.

— Hugh Leask

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Tuesday as investors shrugged off fresh doubts over the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire after President Donald Trump warned the truce was on "massive life support."

Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.52% at 62,742.57, while the Topix rose 0.83% at 3,872.90. South Korea's Kospi pared early losses and fell 2.29% at 7,643.15 after notching a fresh record high on Monday. The small-cap Kosdaq fell 2.32% at 1,179.29. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.36% at 8,670.70.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index was in choppy trade and fell 0.22% in the last hour of afternoon trade, while the CSI 300 declined 0.08% at 4,948.05.

India's Nifty 50 dropped 1.30%.

— Justina Lee

On Monday, six of the 11 GICS sectors ended the session higher.

Gains were led by the energy sector, which added 2.63%. The materials, industrials and information technology sectors followed, respectively gaining 1.43%, 1.01% and 1.00%.

On the other hand, the day's losses were led by the communication services sector, down 2.33%. The consumer staples and consumer discretionary sectors followed, with losses of 0.76% and 0.64%, respectively.

— Lisa Kailai Han

These are the stocks moving the most in extended-hours trading:

• Hims & Hers Health — Shares dropped more than 12% after the telehealth company guided for adjusted EBITDA in its current quarter of between $35 million to $55 million.
• Gitlab — Shares were 8% lower in after-hours trading after CEO Bill Staples outlined a broad restructuring plan tied to the software company's move into agentic AI, including workforce reductions, management cuts and a more narrow geographic footprint.
• Cleanspark — Shares of the bitcoin miner and data center developer fell 10%. Second-quarter losses came in wider than anticipated at $1.52 per share, while analysts polled by FactSet sought a loss of 56 cents per share.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Stock futures traded near flat on Monday night.

Futures tied to all three major averages were trading around the flatline shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

— Lisa Kailai Han