Stocks Close Mostly Higher Despite Late-Day Volatility - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks fluctuated in the latter part of the trading day on Monday but managed to close notably higher following an early upward move. Upbeat retail sales data helped the markets regain some ground following the sell-off seen late last week.

The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow advanced 146.49 points or 0.9 percent to 16,173.24, the Nasdaq rose 22.96 points or 0.6 percent to 4,022.69 and the S&P 500 climbed 14.92 points or 0.8 percent at 1,830.61.

The rebound on Wall Street came following the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing that retail sales rose by more than expected in the month of March.

The report showed that retail sales jumped by 1.1 percent in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in February. Economists had expected sales to increase by about 0.9 percent.

Excluding an increase in auto sales, retail sales still rose by 0.7 percent in March compared to economist estimates for an increase of 0.5 percent.

Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group, said, "Bottom line, consumers clearly responded to the winter thaw and the sales gains m/o/m were pretty broad based.

"The sustainability of the sales gains, as opposed to just a onetime weather rebound, will now be the focus," he added.

Traders also reacted positively to quarterly earnings news from Citigroup (C), with the financial giant advancing by 4.4 percent on the day.

Before the start of trading, Citigroup reported first quarter earnings that unexpectedly increased year-over-year, partly reflecting a narrower loss on its troubled assets left over from the financial crisis.

However, buying interest briefly waned in late-day trading amid renewed concerns about escalating tensions in Ukraine.

Sector News

Trucking stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading day, driving the Dow Jones Trucking Index up by 1.9 percent. With the gain, the index ended the session at its best closing level in well over two months.

J.B. Hunt (JBHT) helped to lead the trucking sector higher, advancing by 3.9 percent despite reporting weaker than expected first quarter earnings.

Considerable strength was also visible among oil service stocks, which moved higher along with the price of crude oil. With crude for May delivery climbing $0.31 to $104.05 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index rose by 1.5 percent.

Similarly, gold stocks moved higher along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 1.5 gain by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector came as gold for June delivery advanced $8.50 to $1,327.50 an ounce.

Computer hardware, steel, and telecom stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while airline stocks bucked the uptrend.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all ended the day modestly higher. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both edged up by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved modestly lower on the day after trending higher in recent sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2 basis points to 2.639 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by the release of another batch of economic data, including reports on consumer prices, homebuilder confidence, and New York manufacturing activity.

On the earnings front, Coca-Cola (KO), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the start of trading on Tuesday.