Investing.com – U.S. stocks rose on Monday after global financial giant Citigroup reported better-than-expected earnings, which gave investors room to shrug off sluggish retail sales numbers.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.13%, the S&P 500 index ended up 0.14%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.21%.
U.S. financial institution Citigroup released its second-quarter earnings earlier revealing net income hit USD1.25 a share, well above consensus forecasts calling for USD1.18 a share.
The numbers hit the wire one trading day after JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations.
The news helped stocks gain despite lackluster retail sales data, which markets eventually looked past.
The Commerce Department reported earlier that U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% in June, slowing from a 0.5% increase in May and well short of market calls for a 0.8% increase.�
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, were flat last month, compared to expectations for a 0.4% increase.
Still, retail sales still posted a third consecutive month of gains in June, which painted a picture of an improving economy that allowed stocks to move higher.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Boeing, up 3.72%, Microsoft, up 1.40%, and IBM, up 1.00%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average\'s worst performers included Walt Disney, down 1.58%, The Travelers Companies, down 1.07%, and Verizon Communications, down 0.89%.
European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.44%, France\'s CAC 40 rose 0.61%, while Germany\'s DAX 30 finished up 0.27%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.63%.
On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its latest consumer prices index, industrial production and the capacity utilization rates.
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