US stocks recover some ground on retail sales again

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

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 get-go Monday, receiving a boost from solid earnings from Citigroup and a strong pickup in retail sales last month.

Among the stocks that rose sharply were WebMD, Edwards Lifesciences and Goodrich Petroleum.

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 this winter began to ease, motivating more people to go out and spend money.

A wave of buying in the last half-hour of trading pushed the Nasdaq and other indexes to solid gains for the day. It was the market's first finish in the green since April 9.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 14.92 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 1,830.61. All ten 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.

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