Stocks kicked off the week on a low note as the Dow shed 164 points, while the S&P 500 logged a notable drop of its own, and the Nasdaq took a more than 2% haircut. All eyes are on the upcoming earnings season, with several big reports slated for later this week. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's termination of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter (TWTR) was big news today, sending the social media stock to its lowest close since mid-March. Record inflation expectations from a New York Federal Reserve survey also weighed on equities, though the 10-year Treasury yield took a slight breather, falling just below 3%.

The Dow Jones Average (DJI -31,173.84) shed 164.3 points or 0.5% for the day. Merck (MRK) led the gainers, adding 1.6%. Nike (NKE) paced the laggards with a 2.6% fall.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,854.43) lost nearly 45 points or 1.2% for the day. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 11,372.60) shed 262.7 points or 2.3% for the session.

Lastly, the Cboe Market Volatility Index (VIX - 26.17) added 1.5 points or 6.2% for the day.

RISE IN COVID CASES SPARKS FEARS THAT OIL DEMAND MAY SLOW

Oil futures fell on Monday as fears over a Covid-related slowdown in demand gripped investors. Elsewhere, Russia announced that it shut down its Nord Stream 1 pipeline for routine maintenance until July 21, sparking supply concerns. August-dated crude lost $0.70, or 0.7%, to settle at $104.09 per barrel for the day.

Gold continued its freefall today, coming off its fourth-straight weekly loss and dropping to its lowest close since September 2021 as the US. dollar continued to harden. August-dated gold lost $10.60, or 0.6%, to close at $1,731.70 an ounce.

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