U.S. stocks closed mixed Monday, as investors weighed mixed economic news, corporate earnings, and renewed fears about Europe. In international economic news, investors continue to worry about Spain, where bond yields rose above 6 percent in early trading, the highest level in seven months. The Spanish government, which will auction bonds later in the week, has been struggling with rising borrowing costs, with fears that it may need to be rescued. Stocks opened higher Monday as the U.S. government said that retail sales rose 0.8 percent in March, which was better than analysts' expectations of 0.3 percent. U.S. business inventories rose 0.6 percent in February, following a 0.7 percent increase in the prior month, according to the Commerce Department. The Empire Index, an index of manufacturing in New York State fell in April to 6.6 from 20.2 in March, according to the New York Federal Reserve bank. The index reading was much lower than expected. The dollar gained against the euro and the pound, but fell versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for May delivery fell 77 cents to $102.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures declined $10.50 to $1,648.40 an ounce. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index declined 22.93, or 0.76 percent, to 2,988.40. Shares of Sprint, Google, and Apple all fell under pressure, as tech stocks were among the worst performers of the day. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 71.82, or 0.56 percent, to 12,921.41. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.69, or 0.05 percent, to 1,369.57.
