U.S. stocks declined on Monday as Wall Street prepared for significant companies’ upcoming earnings reports, which might reveal how inflation affects firms.

The decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 140 points or 0.45%. The Nasdaq Composite plummeted 2.3 percent, while the S&P 500 slid 1.1 percent.

Lower prices on Monday result from deteriorating Covid trends in China, where Shanghai has identified its first case of the BA.5 subvariant and Macau has shut down its casinos for a week. On the announcement, stocks of casinos and hotels dropped. Each of Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands had an 8% loss.

Although COVID instances are increasing worldwide, the likelihood of lockdowns in the U.S. and E.U. is still relatively low, according to Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli. “COVID headwinds are not simply Chinese phenomena.”

Information technology and communication services decreased by approximately 2%, with battered tech shares driving the decline. Netflix, Tesla, and Alphabet all saw approximately 3% declines. The Dow was weakened by more than 2% due to Boeing, Intel, and Walt Disney declines.

Following Elon Musk’s cancellation of a $44 billion bid to acquire the social media business, Twitter shares dropped by 6%. The billionaire said that Twitter was not being realistic about how legitimate activity on the network was due to many bots and false accounts on the site. However, the business said it provided Musk with all the data he needed to evaluate the claims.

The 2-year Treasury yield, which many see as a recession signal, was also slightly above its 10-year equivalent. On Monday, the 2-year rate was 3.08 percent, or about two basis points more than the 10-year.

This week, investors are entirely focused on the beginning of the corporate earnings season. The results can indicate how rising prices and inflation are harming earnings. Delta Air Lines and PepsiCo are expected to announce results on Tuesday and Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup are scheduled to release their earnings at the end of the week.

Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments, states, “with recessionary worries weighing on the markets, investors are hyper-focused on corporate results for more signs about the health of corporate America and the larger U.S. economy.”

“A more precise lens will be required to analyze these earnings reports,” he said, “since a great second quarter can be accompanied with extremely cautious outlooks.” “As the prices of commodities and other producer costs continue to be relatively high, businesses will be considering the extent to which those increased prices can be passed on to customers and, in the same vein, how to maintain robust earnings despite the presence of economic, geopolitical, and other significant headwinds.

The Dow and S&P 500 had slight declines during the previous day on Wall Street, while the Nasdaq Composite increased for a sixth consecutive day. After stronger-than-expected employment data on Friday demonstrated that the economic slowdown investors are worried about has not yet occurred and contributed to an optimistic mood, all significant averages scored a winning week.

Although positive for the economy, the employment data may give the Federal Reserve more confidence to maintain its aggressive rate increases in the coming months to combat stubbornly rising inflation. This week’s statistics on consumer inflation and a wave of profits from big banks will put it to the test.

Although the markets finished the week in the green, Bassuk warned that investors should prepare for further volatility in July as we enter the corporate earnings season and face lingering uncertainty on inflation, Fed policy, recession worries, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The consumer price index for June is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, and investors are looking forward to seeing that number. According to projections provided by Dow Jones, it is anticipated that it will show headline inflation increasing from May’s level of 8.6 percent to 8.8 percent. This increase will include both food and energy prices.