Stocks close flat | GameStop frenzy continues | Microsoft gains after earnings

The S&P 500 slipped slightly from a record high on Tuesday as Wall Street geared up for the heart of corporate earnings season including reports from a slew of blue-chip companies and major tech players.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE TUE, JAN 26, 2021 EVENING BRIEF AS OF TUE, JAN 26, 2021 • 04:24 ET DJIA 30937.04 -0.07% -22.96 S&P 500 3849.62 -0.15% -5.74 NASDAQ 13626.07 -0.07% -9.93   Most Active DOW NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 143.16 +0.24 +0.17% MSFT 232.33 +2.80 +1.22% VZ 56.57 -1.85 -3.17% S&P 500 NAME LAST CHG %CHG GE 11.29 +0.30 +2.73% AAPL 143.16 +0.24 +0.17% F 11.19 -0.10 -0.89% NASDAQ NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 143.16 +0.24 +0.17% AMD 94.71 +0.58 +0.62% SIRI 6.55 +0.49 +8.09%   EDITOR'S NOTE The battle between Reddit-obsessed retail investors and GameStop short sellers continued to heat up, and average Joe traders still have the upper hand. Shares of the video game retailer jumped more than 90% to $147.98 on Tuesday. The stock got a boost after Social Capital's Chamath Palihapitiya said he purchased GameStop call options betting the name will go even higher. The buying frenzy among rookie investors has prompted GameStop shares to quadruple in the past two weeks, inflicting huge losses for short sellers in the stock. However, the short sellers are not backing down. Over the last 30 days, GameStop shares that have been borrowed and sold short increased by 1.5 million shares, worth $117 million as its stock price more than doubled, according to S3 Partners. Short sellers also reloaded bets over the last seven days amid the incredible surge.   "There is a prize fight between momentum longs and momentum shorts, with the longs way ahead on points but shorts are looking for a knock-out in the later rounds," Ihor Dusaniwsky, S3's managing director of predictive analytics, said Tuesday in an email. "If long shareholders do begin selling, there may be an avalanche of long sellers hitting the tape since no-one wants to see their mark-to-market profits melt away." Yun Li | CNBC Markets and Investing Reporter @YunLi626 TOP NEWS  Stocks close slightly lower as rally takes a breather ahead of Big Tech earnings GameStop jumps another 90% above $140, but short sellers aren't backing down White House signals it could agree to more narrowly targeted stimulus checks Microsoft shares surge as it reports 17% revenue growth Democrats reintroduce $15 minimum wage bill with unified control of Congress, White House Cramer: 'Astounding numbers' at struggling GE, Raytheon may justify stock market's rally General Electric shares pop on better-than-expected industrial cash flow, rosy outlook Biden orders DOJ to end private prison contracts as part of racial equity push Here's a list of the most shorted stocks that could be targets for the Reddit crowd Schumer, McConnell near deal to transfer Senate committee power to Democrats   TOP VIDEO Cramer on market reaction to Beyond Meat's partnership with Pepsi   CNBC PRO Here's what every major analyst expects from Apple's first-quarter earnings Wednesday   SPECIAL REPORTS Elon Musk blasts Jeff Bezos' Amazon, alleging effort to 'hamstring' SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet Another SPAC ETF hits the market. CEO behind the launch says the fund has 'edge' over its rivals   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2021 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS