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Goldman Sachs ( GS ) rises after Q1 profit beat

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Salesforce ( CRM ) falls on report of likely Informatica ( INFA ) deal

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Indexes up: Dow 0.90%, S&P 0.71%, Nasdaq 0.43%

(Updated at 9:37 a.m. ET/1337 GMT)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi Achar A

April 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes

rose on Monday after a bruising sell-off in the previous session

on the back of disappointing earnings from some big U.S. banks,

while escalating tensions in the Middle East made investors

wary.

All three major indexes fell more than 1% on Friday,

registering weekly losses.

President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu the United States would not participate in a

counter-offensive against Iran - an option Netanyahu's war

cabinet favors after a mass drone and missile attack on Israeli

territory - according to officials familiar with the

development.

Iran launched the attack after a suspected Israeli strike on

its embassy compound in Syria on April 1 that killed top

Revolutionary Guards commanders. However, Iran's attack,

launched using more than 300 missiles and drones, caused only

modest damage in Israel.

Defense stocks like Lockheed Martin ( LMT ), General

Dynamics ( GD ) and RTX Corp ( RTX ) gained between 1.1% and

1.5%.

On the earnings front, Goldman Sachs ( GS ) gained 5.1%

after its first-quarter profit beat Wall Street estimates as a

recovery in underwriting and dealmaking boosted its investment

banking unit, helping it post the highest earnings per share

since 2021.

The stock lifted the financial sector up 1.5%,

helping it to lead sectoral gains.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% in March, compared to

a 0.3% rise estimated by economists polled by Reuters.

"Certainly we're at a place in time this week where the

economic data in large part will take a backseat to the earnings

reports," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley

Wealth.

"But as it pertains to the retail sales, good news is good

news. We're in that place that better news in terms of economic

growth is certainly going to be a positive for markets now."

U.S. equities have sold off recently as investors sharply

readjusted their expectations of how much the Fed would cut

rates this year. Traders have priced in only 39 basis points of

cuts this year, according to LSEG data, down from about 150 bps

at the start of the year.

At 9:37 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was

up 342.51 points, or 0.90%, at 38,325.75, the S&P 500 was

up 36.24 points, or 0.71%, at 5,159.65, and the Nasdaq Composite

was up 69.03 points, or 0.43%, at 16,244.12.

Most megacap growth stocks edged higher in early trading.

However, Apple ( AAPL ) fell 0.9% after data from research firm

IDC showed the company's smartphone shipments dropped about 10%

in the first quarter of 2024.

Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global

workforce, an internal memo seen by Reuters showed. Shares of

the EV maker were last down 2.0%.

Salesforce ( CRM ) dipped 3.8% after Reuters reported,

citing a source, that the customer relations software maker was

in advanced talks to acquire Informatica ( INFA ).

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.97-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.61-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and no new

lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 19 new highs and 70 new lows.