US stocks up on Citi earnings, retail sales

New York - US stocks rose decisively on Monday after a solid earnings report from Citigroup and encouraging retail sales data, reversing course after deep losses late last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 146.49 points (0.91%) to 16,173.24, while the S&P 500 gained 14.92 (0.82%) at 1,830.61.

The Nasdaq, which has fallen sharply over the last month, added 22.96 (0.57%) at 4,022.69.

The gains came after the government reported US March retail sales jumped 1.1%, better than expected. Citi's first-quarter earnings also bested analyst forecasts.

However, the increase in the Nasdaq still lagged the other two indices. Trendy stocks like Facebook and Tesla Motors have been vulnerable to concerns about another tech bubble.

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, said tech investors are still "a little jittery" ahead of earnings reports Tuesday and Wednesday from Google, Intel and Yahoo.

"After several days of strong declines, the market is trying to stabilise," Cardillo said.

Most stocks in the hard-hit technology and biotechnology sector enjoyed a good day. Yahoo added 1.8%, Intel jumped 1.5%, Biogen tacked on 2.0% and Google and Apple each rose 0.4%.

But Tesla slumped 2.8%.

Credit-card companies Visa and Mastercard rose 2.2% and 3.6%, respectively.

Big oil companies were also stronger. On the Dow, ExxonMobil added 1.2% and Chevron advanced 1.4%.

Investors smiled on Citi earnings, which came in at $1.23 per share, excluding special items, well above the $1.14 projected by analysts. Shares rose 4.4%.

Shares of Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences reacted to a US court ruling Friday that ordered an injunction on the sale in the US of Medtronic Corevalve heart-valve system. Medtronic fell 1.9%, while Edwards jumped 11%.

Medtronic is appealing the injunction, which relates to a patent dispute between the companies.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.64% from 2.62% on Friday, while the 30-year held steady at 3.48%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.