5 things to know before the stock market opens on Tuesday

Here are the top stories investors need to start their trading day:

We could see some real action from equities on Tuesday after a somewhat grinding session on Monday which however ended with a slight rally in the three major indices. There haven’t been any meaningful developments from Washington on the debt ceiling (see below), earnings have slowed considerably, and the Fed looks likely to keep interest rates in place for a while. The nation’s top banking regulators, including Fed Vice Chairman Michael Barr, are set to appear before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, a hearing that could provide more clues about the state of the regional banking sector after recent failures. Federal Reserve Chairs Raphael Bostick of Atlanta, John Williams of New York and Austin Goolsby of Chicago are all scheduled to speak elsewhere on Tuesday. Follow live market updates.

President Joe Biden may be optimistic about the direction of talks to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy doesn’t think things have improved since they met last week. While the White House and congressional staff have met daily to try to hammer out a deal to avoid a debt default, on the surface, at least, there doesn’t appear to be much progress ahead of the meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon between the Bidens and McCarthy. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Time is running out. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen confirmed on Monday that the United States is on track to run out of money to pay its bills as soon as June 1st.

Home Depot’s earnings report has just been released, and it’s not great. While the bottom line barely beat Wall Street’s expectations, revenue came in below par. In fact, it was the home improvement retailer’s second consecutive beatdown after it previously posted 12 consecutive beats. Home Depot also cut its same-store sales estimate for the year to a decline of 2% to 5%. Previously, I expected the scale to remain effectively flat. The company’s lackluster results and outlook come as the retail phase of earnings season kicks off. Target reports Wednesday, Walmart publishes results Thursday, and Home Depot competitor Lowe’s is up a week from now.

The US Virgin Islands has issued a subpoena for billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the lawsuit filed against JPMorgan Chase for the bank’s ties to sex trafficker and predator Jeffrey Epstein. Specifically, the USVI government is seeking documents from Musk that show any contact involving him, Epstein, and JPMorgan. The islands’ government issued a subpoena out of suspicion that Epstein, who had affairs 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 a judge’s approval to do so through a Tesla agent of record. Musk, on Twitter, called the subpoena “stupid on so many levels.” Be sure to tune in to CNBC at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday, when David Faber will be interviewing Musk Live.

Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, faced a massive overnight strike from Russian forces that Ukrainian officials described as “extraordinary” in its ferocity. The raid included drone and missile strikes, arson and property damage across the city. The barrage of heavy blows came as Ukraine prepares for a long-awaited counter-offensive in a bid to drive Russia away from its occupied positions. In addition, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, is scheduled to visit Ukraine on Tuesday in an effort 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 Kennery, Melissa Rybko, Robert Home, Dan Mangan and Holly Elliott contributed to this report.

– Follow the broader market actions like a pro CNBC Pro.