Stocks were muted on Monday as market participants anticipate more key inflation data due out this week, as well as more corporate earnings ahead.
Here's how the market settled on Monday:
S&P 500 Index (SPY ): +0.05% or +1.87 points to 4,138.12
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA ): -0.17% or -55.69 points to 33,618.69
Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ ): +0.18% or +21.50 points to 12,256.92
Making headlines on Monday, PacWest Bancorp (PACW ) shares rose more than 30% after the regional lender announced it is reducing its dividend to just 1 cent per share from 25 cents late Friday.
"Given current economic uncertainty, recent volatility in the banking sector and potential changes in regulatory capital requirements, we view reducing the dividend as a prudent step to accelerate our plans to build capital," CEO Paul Taylor said in a statement.
Big banks like Citigroup (C ), JPMorgan Chase (JPM ), Morgan Stanley (MS ) and Wells Fargo (WFC ) also rose higher, while the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE ) slipped nearly 1%.
Much of investor attention was turned forward on Monday, as market participants prepared for April's consumer price index due out Wednesday, followed by the month's producer price index on Thursday -- each will give Wall Street more insights on the state of the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve's next moves.
In economic news out Monday, outlook for household spending fell in April, according to a New York Fed Survey, reflecting declining consumer sentiment as inflation continue to erode spending power. The headline consumer expectations outlook fell by half a percentage point to an annual rate of 5.2%, or its lowest level since September 2021.
In single-stock news, shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A ) ticked higher on Monday following Warren Buffet's annual shareholder meeting held over the weekend in Omaha, Nebraska. Occidental Petroleum (OXY ) shares fell on Monday after Buffet said Berkshire does not plan to buy a controlling stake of the oil company. "We wouldn't know what to do with it," Buffet said.
Zscaler (ZS ) shares jumped more than 20% after the cybersecurity company raised its forward guidance after issuing strong preliminary earnings. The company reported preliminary third-quarter revenue between $415 million and $419 million, ahead of previous expectations of between $396 million and $398 million. Zscaler also raised its full-year revenue estimates to between $1.597 billion and $1.591 billion.
Shares of Catalent (CTLT ) dropped nearly 25% after the contract drug manufacturer announced its delaying the release of its fiscal third-quarter results and expected to cut its full-year revenue guidance by more than $400 million. The announcement came one day before its scheduled earnings report, which has been moved to May 15 to allow the company to make adjustment to financial statements related to its operations in Bloomington, Indiana.
"We are confident that our recent operational challenges are temporary and addressable, and we are working intensively to return to our historic productivity levels," CEO Alessandro Maselli said in a statement.
Looking ahead, investors are gearing up from more earnings reports from companies including PayPal (PYPL ) after market close. Earnings from major players like Disney (DIS ), Occidental Petroleum and Airbnb (ABNB ) are due out later this week.
