The S&P 500 ended higher on Tuesday, lifted by Nvidia and Eli Lilly, while U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to fire a central bank governor deepened concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence.

Market Snapshot

The S&P 500 climbed 0.41% to end the session at 6,465.94 points, just short of its August 14 record-high close. The Nasdaq gained 0.44% to 21,544.27 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.30% to 45,418.07 points.

Market Movers

Nvidia - Nvidia gained 1.1%. Shares have gained 35% this year. The chip maker is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

AMD - AMD gained 2% to $166.62. Analysts at Truist upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and raised their price target to $213 from $173. The company may be able to eat into Nvidia’s share of the lucrative data-center graphics processing unit market, the analysts said. AMD also unveiled a “quantum-centric supercomputing” partnership withInternational Business Machines.

Palantir - Palantir rose 2.4% after declining 1% on Monday. CEO Alex Karp unloaded more than 400,000 shares in the data-analytics company last week, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AT&T, EchoStar - AT&T fell 0.6% after the telecommunications company said it intended to buy spectrum licenses from EchoStar for $23 billion in cash. AT&T said the purchase would give it the exclusive rights to a slice of the radio frequency spectrum in specific areas, and would help it to “maintain long-term leadership in advanced connectivity across 5G and fiber.” EchoStar shares jumped 70.3%.

Eli Lilly - Eli Lilly’s experimental weight-loss pill orforglipronresulted in up to 10.5% weight-loss in overweight or obese patients with Type 2 diabetes in a late-stage trial. Shares of the pharmaceutical company rose 5.9%.

NIO - Shares of Chinese EV maker NIO surged 10% on Tuesday following an upgrade from JPMorgan analyst Nick Lai to “overweight” from “neutral.” JPMorgan hiked its price target for Nio to $8, up 67% from its earlier target of $4.80.

Boeing - Boeing rose 3.5% after the aircraft maker announced that Korean Air was ordering 103 planes. The order will be worth some $20 billion at list prices.

Interactive Brokers - Interactive Brokers was up 0.9% after wavering throughout the session. S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the online broker would be replacing Walgreens Boots Alliance in the S&P 500 at the open of trading on Thursday. Walgreens is being acquired by the private-equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal expected to be completed soon.

Talen - Talen Energy jumped 6.5% after the power generator was selected to replace Interactive Brokers in the S&P MidCap 400 index, also effective Thursday.

Vertiv Holdings - Vertiv Holdings was up 2.3%. The data-center infrastructure company said it was acquiring Waylay, a Belgium-based software maker specializing in generative AI, to manage its power and cooling systems.

Canada Goose, VF Corp - Analysts at Baird upgraded both Canada Goose and VF Corp. to Outperform from Neutral. Canada Goose, the Canadian winter apparel brand, rose 3.2%. VF, which owns The North Face, Timberland, and Vans, was up 6.2%.

Trump Media & Technology - Trump Media & Technology Group rose 5.2% after the parent company of Truth Social announced a partnership with Crypto.com. Truth Social and the Truth+ streaming platform will allow users to convert rewards for participating on the platforms into Cronos tokens through Crypto.com digital-wallet infrastructure. Cronos, or CRO, is a blockchain and corresponding token.

Heico - Heico, the maker of aerospace aftermarket parts, reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.26 a share, better than analysts’ estimates of $1.13. Revenue of $1.15 billion topped forecasts of $1.12 billion. The stock was up 8.8%.

Semtech - Semiconductor company Semtech posted second-quarter adjusted earnings of 41 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates by 1 cent, as revenue of $258 million rose 20% from a year earlier and topped consensus. Semtech said it expects third-quarter adjusted earnings of 44 cents a share, plus or minus 3 cents, in line with estimates. Shares surged 15%.

Market News

Fed Governor Cook Will Sue to Keep Her Job as Trump Mulls Replacement

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will file a lawsuit to prevent President Donald Trump from firing her, a lawyer for the embattled central bank official said on Tuesday, kicking off what could be a protracted legal fight over the White House's effort to shape U.S. monetary policy.

The statement was issued a day after Trump said he would fire Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank's governing body, for alleged "deceitful and potential criminal conduct" related to mortgages she took out in 2021.

Cook's departure would allow Trump to pick a majority of the Fed's seven-member board, including two incumbents and the pending nomination of White House economist Stephen Miran. Trump said he may consider Miran, whom he nominated for a temporary seat on the Fed board that is due to expire in January, for Cook's seat should it become vacant. The Wall Street Journal reported that former World Bank Group President David Malpass, a longtime Trump ally, was also discussed for the job.

Trump Administration Mulls Taking Stakes in Defense Firms Including Lockheed Martin

The Trump administration is considering taking stakes in defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corp, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday as he defended President Donald Trump's push for a greater government role in American business.

"They're thinking about it," Lutnick told CNBC, citing Pentagon leaders, when asked if the administration was considering taking pieces of contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, or Palantir Technologies. "There's a lot of talking that needs to be had about how do we finance our munitions acquisitions."

"There's a monstrous discussion about defense. Lockheed Martin makes 97% of their revenue from the U.S. government. They are basically an arm of the U.S. government," he added.

Apple to Hold Fall Event on September 9, New IPhones Expected

Apple will host its annual fall event on September 9, according to an invite on Tuesday, where the company is expected to unveil new iPhones, watches and other devices.

The event will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California and serve as a showcase of the company's efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into its devices.

It will be closely watched by investors worried about the company ceding ground to faster-moving rivals in the race to deploy AI technology.