Wall Street closes in the red as traders await earnings season

4:05pm: Airlines, cruise companies struggle The Dow closed Monday down 55 points, 0.2%, at 33,745. The Nasdaq fell 50 points, 0.4%, to 13,850, and the S&P 500 lost less than a point to 4,128. Reopening plays, including airlines and cruise ship companies, lost ground after a strong previous week. Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL) lost more than 5% to $27.75, and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) stock dropped almost 4% to $56.16. 12:15pm: Airlines and airplane producers hit turbulence In the US, the Dow dropped 44 points, 0.1%, to 33,757 at midday. The Nasdaq Composite slid 70 points, 0.5%, to 13,831, and the S&P 500 ticked down 5 points, 0.1%, to 4,123. "US markets will be the ‘tell’ for investors this week, and tomorrow’s inflation reading will be closely-watched," Beauchamp wrote. "After last week’s PPI bounce the market is on notice for further signs of inflation that will test the Fed’s resolve. Again, given the strength in stocks over the past few weeks the figure may have more impact than at other times." The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was among the stragglers, as its share price fell more than 2% to $247.18. The major airline companies didn't fare better. United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL), Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) and American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) stock all lost more than 1.5%. 10:15am: Proactive North America headlines: Marble Financial Inc (CSE:MRBL) (OTCMKTS:MRBF) (FRA:2V0) closes acquisition of leading Canadian fintech company, Inverite Verification  The Parent Company (NEO:GRAM.U) (OTCQX:GRAMF) (OTCPINK:GRMWF) announces the launch of Shawn 'JAY-Z' Carter’s MONOGRAM cannabis ad campaign inspired by photographer Slim Aarons  PlantX Life Inc (CSE:VEGA) (OTCQB:PLXTF) (FRA:WNT1) reports record monthly revenue of nearly C$1.6M in March  Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd (CSE:HEAT) (OTCMKTS:HLRTF) ties up C$5M equity facility agreement with Mercer Street  American Battery Metals  Corporation (OTCQB:ABML) enters into stock purchase agreement with institutional investor for up to $75M worth of shares  Nextleaf Solutions Ltd (CSE:OILS) (OTCQB:OILFF) (FRA:LOMA) receives licence amendment allowing it to sell its cannabis products directly to provinces  Genprex Inc (NASDAQ:GNPX)  presents positive preclinical data for lung cancer drug REQORSA at American Association for Cancer Research meeting Kintara Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:KTRA) says interim Phase 2 study data on VAL-083 shows its potential as game-changing treatment option for GBM patients Aurelius Minerals Inc (CVE:AUL) (OTCQB:AURQF) (FRA:1GA) unveils further high-grade gold results from its Aureus East project in Nova Scotia Neo Lithium Corp (CVE:NLC) (OTCQX:NTTHF) (FRA:NE2)  hires consultants to help develop a sustainability program for its 3Q Lithium Project in Argentina ImagineAR Inc (CSE:IP) (OTCQB:IPNFF) (FRA:GMS1) and Liquid Avatar Technologies say rapper Jeezy to release AR-enhanced snowman logo NFT Cardiol Therapeutics Inc (TSE:CRDL) (OTCQX:CRTPF) (FRA:CT9) says CardiolRx safe and well tolerated in Phase I study of oral cannabidiol formulation Fury Gold Mines Limited (TSE:FURY) (NYSEAMERICAN:FURY) (FRA:AUN1) to drill "compelling" western extension targets at Eau Claire project in Quebec INDVR Brands  Inc (CSE:IDVR) (OTCMKTS:CAAOF) (FRA:3YX) inks letter of intent with BevCanna to sell HONU edibles in Canada Benchmark Metals Inc (CVE:BNCH) (OTCQB:CYRTF) (FRA:87CA) posts more encouraging drill results from Lawyers underlining project's world-class mining potential Alternus Energy Group PLC (NOTC:ALT) completes €9M funding led by asset manager AVG Group Sarl QC Copper and Gold Inc (CVE:QCCU) (OTCMKTS:QCCUF) first drill results from Opemiska "consistent with expectations" AgraFlora Organics International Inc (CSE: AGRA) (FRA:PU31) (OTCPINK:AGFAF) subsidiary starts supplying THC Teskits to Stadapharm GmbH in Germany Else Nutrition Holdings Inc (CVE:BABY) (OTCQX:BABYF) (FRA:0YL) names two world-class experts in pediatrics nutrition and allergies to its Scientific Advisory Board Australis Capital Inc (CSE:AUSA) (OTC:AUSAF) (FRA:AC4) finds its first chief science officer in University of Alberta lead cardiologist Jason Dyck Aurania Resources Ltd (CVE:ARU) (OTCMKTS:AUIAF) (FRA:20Q) unveils sampling results from 15km long Tiria-Shimpia target at Ecuador project   9.36am: Wall Street lower The main indices on Wall Street opened in the red on Monday morning as coronavirus infections left investors feeling cautious. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.17% to 33,742 while the S&P 500 sank 0.13% to 4,123 and the Nasdaq fell 0.29% to 13,859. Traders seem to be awaiting the start of US earnings season, with the major American banks to begin the results cycle this week. 8:00am: Wall Street set to open lower Fears over rising coronavirus (COVD-19) infection rates seem to be weighing on sentiment in New York on Monday, with the main indices all expected to open lower. Spread betting quotes indicate the Dow Jones Industrial Average will open 67 points lower to 33,733, the S&P 500 will shed 9 points at 4,120 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 will slide 56 points to 13,789. “The earnings season is kicking off this week with major banks announcing first-quarter results, a year after the Covid-19 pandemic halted the global economy. As analysts have become more optimistic, earnings expectations for S&P 500 companies have been rising over the past two months and are anticipated to grow 25% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to a year ago,” observed Hussein Sayed at FXTM. “With bond yields continuing to move gradually higher, forward earnings need to be brought a little lower. So, either shares prices need to correct to the downside or earnings have to beat markets expectations. Given that most technical indicators are reflecting overbought signals on the S&P 500, it seems like earnings will need to beat expectations by a significant margin to justify another leg higher. “JP Morgan, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs will all be announcing results on Wednesday morning, followed by Bank of America and Citigroup on Thursday. Financials have been the second-best performing sector so far this year rising 19%, with the energy sector topping that with gains of 27% so far this year,” the analyst added. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell gave a US TV interview yesterday in which he said the US economy is at an inflexion point. “We feel like we're at a place where the economy's about to start growing much more quickly and job creation coming in much more quickly”, Powell told CBS. “There are something like 8.5, 9 million people, maybe even more than that depending on how you count it, who were working in February of last year before the pandemic and have lost their jobs”, Powell admitted. “Turning to the week ahead now, the pandemic will remain in focus as the new case count is still moving higher at the global level. In the week ending last Friday, April 9, the numbers recorded by John Hopkins University showed a 4.45mln increase in cases globally, which compares with increases of 4.11mln, 3.78mln and 3.29mln in the three weeks before that, so we’ve definitely seen an acceleration in the past month, although the rate of increase is still shy of the peaks in December and January,” said Jim Reid & co at Deutsche Bank. Four things to watch for on Monday: Monday’s earnings diary is due to include numbers from modelling software firm Simulations Plus Inc (NASDAQ:SLP) and BioHiTech Global Inc (NASDAQ:BHTG) Shares in Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) will draw some attention after reports the company is in talks to potentially acquire speech recognition and artificial intelligence group Nuance Communications Inc Meanwhile, Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd (NYSE:BABA) will also be in focus after it was hit with a record US$2.8bn fine by Chinese regulators for market abuse On the macro front, the diary is a little thin however consumer inflation expectations for March may draw some attention