Stocks edged lower on Tuesday as market participants looked ahead towards key inflation reports due later this week alongside the latest developments on the U.S. debt ceiling deadline.

Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -0.46% or -18.95 points to 4,119.17

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.17% or -56.88 points to 33,561.81

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -0.63% or -77.36 points to 12,179.55

Commanding much of investor sentiment on Tuesday, President Joe Biden hosted a meeting with congressional leaders to discuss the federal government's debt ceiling, which currently stands at more than $31 trillion but risks running out of cash as soon as June 1.

Market participants are also looking ahead to Wednesday's consumer price index reading for April for more clues on the Federal Reserve's next decision on interest rates for its next policy meeting in June. Headlines inflation is expected to increase by 5% annually last month, with core CPI -- which excludes more volatile food and energy prices -- estimated to increase by 0.4% month-to month and 5.5% year-over-year, according to Bloomberg estimates.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the National Federal of Independent Business (NFIB) Optimism Index slipped to a reading of 89 for April by 1.1 points from March's reading, marking its 16th straight month of reading below the long-term average of 98.

"Optimism is not improving on Main Street as more owners struggle with finding qualified workers for their open positions," said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg in a statement. "Inflation remains a top concern for small businesses but is showing signs of easing."

In single-stock moves, shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR  ) soared more than 20% on Tuesday after the enterprise computing firm topped expectations for its first-quarter and issued strong full-year profitability guidance. CEO Alex Karp said the the company's artificial intelligence platform is also experiencing demand that is "without precedent."

"We have already had hundreds of conversations with potential customers about deploying the software and are currently negotiating terms and pricing for access to the components of the platform," Karp added.

Novavax (NVAX  ) shares climbed higher after the biotech company reposted promising vaccine data and issued a major cost-cutting plan that includes major layoffs. "Novavax is focused on significantly reducing our expenses while retaining the key capabilities needed to execute our operating plans," the company said in a release.

Looking ahead, Wall Street will digest earnings reports from Airbnb (ABNB  ), Rivian (RIVN  ) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY  ) after closing bell.