Stocks rise as retail sales, Citigroup profit top estimates

A positive earnings report from Citigroup and a better-than-expected reading on retail sales pushed stocks higher on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 95.38 points to 13,424.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 20.07 points to 3,064.18, and the S&P 500 Stock Index rose 11.54 points to 1,440.13.

The Commerce Department reported retail sales in September rose 1.1 percent, well above expectations. Active back-to-school shopping and the release of the latest iPhone from Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) accounted in the increase in consumer activity.

Commodities were actively traded on Monday. Gold fell $22.10 to $1,737.60 an ounce. Oil fell as low as $89.79 a barrel before closing at $91.85, down just a cent.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) soared 5.5 percent, the most since March, as a surge in bond-trading revenue helped results. Texas Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: TXN) rose 3.5 percent on a report that Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) may buy its mobile chip unit. PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) and KB Home (NYSE: KBH) jumped more than 4.9 percent as homebuilders rallied. Apple Inc. added 0.8 percent after falling as much as 0.9 percent earlier.

“The retail sales report looked a little bit better than expected,” said Dan Veru, who oversees $3.5 billion as chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management LLC in Fort Lee, N.J. “The big question regarding earnings is whether expectations have come down enough so that companies can beat guidance.”

The S&P 500 sank 2.2 percent last week, the biggest retreat since June 1, as the International Monetary Fund reduced its global growth forecasts and earnings projections from Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) disappointed investors.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. added 0.4 percent to $2.75 after a person familiar with the matter said the company plans to cut as many as 2,340 jobs, or about 20 percent of its work force. Third- quarter sales will decline about 10 percent from the prior period, a bigger drop than previously forecast, the company said on Thursday.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) lost 0.7 percent to $5.69, while phone stocks erased 0.6 percent for the only decline among 10 groups in the S&P 500. Softbank Corp. (PNK: SFTBF) agreed to buy a 70 percent stake in Sprint as Japan’s third-biggest mobile-phone operator seeks growth overseas amid a declining local market.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), the largest U.S. phone carrier, retreated 1.2 percent to $35.21 for the biggest decline in the Dow. MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS), which Sprint has considered buying, fell the most in the S&P 500, dropping 4.6 percent to $11.33.

Hasbro Inc. (Nasdaq: HAS) fell 3.9 percent to $37.75. The world’s second-largest toymaker was downgraded to "sell" from "neutral" at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS).

Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) decreased 2.2 percent to $34.36. The largest U.S. coal producer by market value announced an unexpected third-quarter net loss after idling mines in response to lower demand.