MARKET REPORT

Stocks recover on retail gains

Specialist Anthony Rinaldi works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, April 11, 2014. Weaker earnings at JPMorgan Chase are dragging bank stocks lower in early trading. Technology and biotech stocks also fell, a day after the worst rout for the Nasdaq composite index since 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Anthony Rinaldi works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, April 11, 2014. Weaker earnings at JPMorgan Chase are dragging bank stocks lower in early trading. Technology and biotech stocks also fell, a day after the worst rout for the Nasdaq composite index since 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks mounted a modest rally Monday, helping investors recover some of the ground lost after a rough finish last week.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 14.92 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 1,830.61. All 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500 increased, led by energy stocks, which rose 1.3 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 146.49 points, or 0.9 percent, to 16,173.24. The Nasdaq composite rose 22.96 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,022.69.

Although they recovered some of their losses from last week, all three indexes remain down for the month and the year.

Investors were bracing for another round of discouraging earnings and a third consecutive loss for the stock market. But the market pushed higher from the beginning Monday, receiving a boost from solid earnings from Citigroup and a strong pickup in retail sales last month.

Stocks rose after the Commerce Department reported that retail sales increased 1.1 percent in March, the best gain since September 2012. The government also revised February’s figure to a 0.7 percent gain, more than double its previous estimate.

Sales improved particularly in the second half of March, as unusually cold weather that gripped much of the country during the winter began to ease, motivating more people to go out and spend.

“As we look forward, the consumer may continue to [spend] and may continue to drive the economy overall,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade.

Citigroup helped stoke the rally. The bank reported a 2.5 percent jump in first-quarterprofit as both income and revenue beat Wall Street’s expectations, a surprise after an earnings miss last week by JPMorgan Chase. A positive earnings outlook from health information portal WebMd also helped.

The gains faded somewhat late in the afternoon. The Nasdaq composite slipped briefly into negative territory, reminiscent of last week’s sharp drop in Internet and biotechnology stocks.

A wave of buying in the last half-hour of trading pushed the Nasdaq and other indexes to solid gains forthe day. It was the market’s first finish in the green since Wednesday.

Monday’s rally was a positive start for the market in a week that is predicted to provide investors with plenty of insight into the health of corporate America and the U.S. consumer.

“For the rest of the week, I would actually expect a little bit of volatility,” said Kinahan. “You have some big names coming out this week that will really set the trend of not only the U.S. but what’s going on worldwide.”

Investors will also hear from several members of the Federal Reserve, including Fed Chairman Janet Yellen.

Among the major companies due to report earnings this week are Johnson & Johnson, Google, General Electric and UnitedHealth.

Analysts still expect firstquarter earnings for companies in the S&P 500 to decline 1.6 percent from a year earlier, according to FactSet, a financial data provider. If profits do fall, it would be only the second quarterly drop in three years.

Bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note inched up to 2.65 percent from 2.63 percent late Friday.

Business, Pages 26 on 04/15/2014

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