Stock Market Today: Stocks Waver Ahead of Busy Earnings Week

It was a slow start to the week for stocks as investors took in mixed quarterly results from a handful of financial sector names. The real fireworks kick off later this week when first-quarter earnings season gets rolling. 

Drilling down into this morning's quarterly results, Charles Schwab (SCHW (opens in new tab), +3.9%) said earnings were up 21% year-over-year to 93 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate. Revenue rose 10% to $5.1 billion, but fell short of expectations. Although "investor sentiment remained bearish – especially following the onset of the banking industry turmoil in early March ... clients opened over 1 million new brokerage accounts and entrusted us with $132 billion of core net new assets," said Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger.

State Street (STT (opens in new tab), -9.2%) was another financial firm that reported Q1 earnings ahead of the open. STT said earnings fell 3.2% to $1.52 per share, while revenue was mostly flat at $3.1 billion. Both figures missed consensus estimates due in part to lower fee revenue and a $29 million provision tied to a $1 billion deposit made to First Republic (FRC (opens in new tab), +0.2%) to shore up the embattled regional bank's liquidity.

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Looking ahead, Netflix (NFLX (opens in new tab), -1.8%) and Tesla (TSLA (opens in new tab), +1.1%) are just two of the high-profile names on this week's earnings calendar, with results from the streaming giant and electric vehicle maker due out tomorrow and Wednesday, respectively. 

In non-earning news, Prometheus Biosciences (RXDX (opens in new tab)) surged 69.7% on news that blue chip stock Merck (MRK (opens in new tab), -0.3%) will purchase the biotech for roughly $10.8 billion in cash. The "lead asset of Prometheus (PRA023) is an antibody that binds TL1A, a target associated with both intestinal inflammation and fibrosis," says BofA Securities analyst Geoff Meacham. "We see the deal as a strategic positive and another step in the right direction to diversify Keytruda concentration risk."

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3% at 33,987, the S&P 500 had gained 0.3% at 4,151, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% higher at 12,157.

The biggest U.S. cities with the cheapest rent

Last Wednesday's consumer price index (CPI) report is still fresh on investors' minds, particularly as the next Fed meeting creeps closer. "Inflation is continuing to come down," says Kevin Simpson, founder and chief investment officer of investment advisory firm Capital Wealth Planning. "Food prices were flat for the month and showed a monthly decline of 0.3% in the food at home category. Energy prices also declined by 3.5% for the month, including gasoline, which dropped 4.6%." But shelter, which makes up roughly a third of the overall index, remained sticky, rising 8.2% year-over-year, he adds.

High levels of inflation have certainly made the most expensive cities in the U.S. that much pricier, but not all areas of the country suffer from such excessive costs. The 10 biggest U.S. cities with the cheapest apartment rents, for instance, all offer rental options at rates well below the national average. And some of the metro areas sporting the cheapest apartment rents also happen to be among the cheapest U.S. cities to live in.