NEW YORK, March 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday, following a retail sales report for February and a downward revision to January's data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 353.45 points, or 0.85 percent, to finish at 41,841.63. The S&P 500 advanced 36.19 points, or 0.65 percent, to 5,675.12, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up 54.58 points, or 0.31 percent, to 17,808.67.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in positive territory, led by real estate and energy, which climbed 1.66 percent and 1.56 percent, respectively. Consumer discretionary was the only sector to decline, slipping 0.44 percent.
Intel was the top-performing S&P 500 stock, rising 6.82 percent as investors continued to rally behind the company following the appointment of its new chief executive officer last week. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained 3.59 percent, while Netflix surged 3.49 percent after receiving an analyst upgrade. Shares of AppLovin, a favorite among AI investors that has struggled amid the recent tech downturn, rebounded 4.77 percent.
Performance among mega-cap technology stocks was mixed. Tesla dropped 4.79 percent, extending its decline after losing roughly half its value since December's record high. Nvidia slipped 1.76 percent as its closely watched GPU Technology Conference began. Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms also traded lower, while Apple and Microsoft posted modest gains of less than 1 percent.
Investor sentiment improved after the U.S. Commerce Department's report showed retail sales rose 0.2 percent in February, falling short of the 0.6 percent increase economists had projected. However, excluding autos, sales climbed 0.3 percent, in line with forecasts.
Meanwhile, manufacturing activity in New York State saw a significant decline in March, with the New York Fed's business conditions index dropping to negative 20 from 5.7 in February, signaling a sharp slowdown. The National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index also declined to 39 in March, dropping three points from the previous month and falling short of the expected reading of 42. A level below 50 signals pessimism among homebuilders.
Wall Street is preparing for the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday, where the central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged. Investors will closely watch for any indications that President Donald Trump's policies are influencing the Fed's economic outlook.
Adding to concerns about the economy, remarks from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent further fueled market unease. "I've been in the investment business for 35 years, and I can tell you that corrections are healthy. They're normal," Bessent said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"What's not healthy is straight up, that you get these euphoric markets," he said.
Moreover, RBC Capital Markets cut its year-end outlook for the S&P 500 to 6,200 from 6,600 as concerns about economic growth continue worrying investors. "While we don't believe that a pullback beyond the 10 percent drawdown that has already been sustained is inevitable, we do believe that the path for stocks between now and December has gotten rockier with stronger headwinds," Lori Calvasina, the firm's head of equity strategy, said in a Monday note to clients. ■
