(MENAFN- AFP) Wall Street stocks Monday moved higher in early trade following a big jump in US retail sales and a better-than-expected earnings report from Citigroup.About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 62.81 points (0.39 percent) to 16,089.56.The broad-based S&P 500 rose 8.04 (0.44 percent) to 1,823.73, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 12.78 (0.32 percent) at 4,012.51.The early gains came on the heels of deep losses in the stock market Thursday and Friday.US retail sales surged 1.1 percent higher in March to $433.9 billion as consumers ramped up spending following brutally cold weather earlier in the winter. The Commerce Department also said February retail sales rose 0.7 percent from the prior month, raising its prior estimate of 0.3 percent.The encouraging retail sales data were accompanied by an earnings report from US banking giant Citigroup, which said profits excluding special items were $1.23 per share, above the analyst estimate of $1.14 per share. Citi shares rose 3.5 percent.Stocks hit hard by the retreat in the technology and biotechnology sectors last week moved higher. These included Gilead Sciences (+1.7 percent), Biogen (+1.5 percent), Facebook (+1.2 percent) and Yahoo (+0.8 percent).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 1.7 percent, while Edwards jumped 14.6 percent. 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 percent from 2.62 percent Friday, while the 30-year held steady at 3.48 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.