MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stocks Boosted By Retail Sales, Citi Results

By William L. Watts, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks posted strong gains Monday, taking back some of the ground lost last week in a tech-led selloff as investors cheered results from Citigroup Inc. and took comfort in a stronger-than-expected rise in March retail sales.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) saw a triple-digit rise shortly after the opening bell and remained up 82 points, or 0.5%, at 16,115 in recent action. The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 12 pints, or 0.7%, to 1,828.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF), which last week saw its biggest weekly percentage decline since June 2012 as so-called momentum stocks across the tech sector were gutted, rebounded 33 points, or 0.8%, to 4,033.

The tone was set earlier in the morning as stock-index futures extended gains after data showed retail sales jumped 1.1% in March, marking the biggest rise since September 2012 and topping forecasts for a gain of 0.9%. February sales were revised up to show a 0.7% gain from an initial estimate of 0.3%.

"Significant strength in consumer spending last month provides a strong challenge to the bearish tone of late -- not that much of the bout of selling was driven by concern for the health of the economy," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, Conn.

The data cheered investors as it offered some reassurance that soft economic data earlier this year was attributable to extreme winter weather.

"The winter slumber is over and with confidence rising, the consumer could lead the way, if only wage gains improve," said Joel Naroff, economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pa.

Citigroup (C) shares rose 4.4% after the bank's first-quarter results easily topped Wall Street forecasts. Citigroup reported a 3.5% rise in profit, boosted by lower expenses and provisions for soured loans, even as revenue fell.

Elsewhere on the corporate front, shares of Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) rose 7.5%. Shares had tumbled at the end of last week on news reports the company is the subject of a criminal investigation by U.S. authorities.

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) rose nearly 15%. The company said late Friday it won a preliminary injunction limiting the sale of Medtronic Inc.'s (MDT) CoreValve system, which had been found by a federal jury to infringe on an Edwards patent. Medtronic shares were down 3.4%.

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