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Cardinal Health ( CAH ) falls on losing contracts with OptumRx

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Tesla down after price cuts in several markets

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Indexes up: Dow 1.2%, S&P 1.4%, Nasdaq 1.4%

(Updates to 2:30 p.m. EDT/1830 GMT)

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks

advanced on Monday following a market sell-off in previous

sessions as investors eyed a busy week for quarterly results

from key companies that would provide a glimpse of the U.S.

economy's health.

The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were

poised to rebound from a decline over the past six sessions

which had been caused by investors re-evaluating their

expectations on interest rate cuts in the wake of strong

economic data, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation and

commentary from Federal Reserve officials.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, with technology

and financial stocks leading gains, up between

1.70% and 1.78%.

Markets were gearing up for quarterly results from megacap

companies this week, including some of the so-called Magnificent

Seven stocks such as Tesla, Meta Platforms ( META ),

Alphabet and Microsoft ( MSFT ).

"I think it's just standard buy-on-the-dip after a 5%

pullback that kind of wakes people up to put money to work,"

said Lamar Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co in New

Orleans.

"Investors are looking ahead to this week with hugely

significant earnings coming out and with concerns about what the

Fed is doing with pushing back any rate cuts," Villere added.

Money markets are pricing in only about 41 basis points

(bps) of rate cuts this year, down from about 150 bps seen at

the beginning of the year, according to LSEG data.

In addition to top corporate earnings, markets are also

awaiting the release later this week of the March personal

consumption expenditure (PCE) data - the Fed's preferred

inflation gauge - to further ascertain the monetary policy

trajectory.

Fed policymakers are in a media blackout period ahead of

their policy meeting on May 1.

At 2:28 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 454.09 points, or 1.20%, to 38,440.49, the S&P 500

gained 69.83 points, or 1.41%, to 5,037.06 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 244.30 points, or 1.60%, to 15,526.31.

Megacap growth stocks edged higher, with Alphabet,

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Apple ( AAPL ) up between 1.1% and 2.1%.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) advanced 4.8%, rebounding from a 10% drop in the

previous session.

Tesla shed 3.5% as the electric vehicle maker cut prices in

a number of its major markets, including China and Germany,

following price reductions in the United States.

Cardinal Health ( CAH ) fell 3.9% after the drug distributor

said its contracts with UnitedHealth Group's ( UNH ) OptumRx,

one of its largest customers, will not be renewed when they

expire at the end of June.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.55-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 35 new highs and 68 new lows on the

NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,911 stocks rose and 1,211 fell as

advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.4-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while

the Nasdaq recorded 33 new highs and 169 new lows.