Wall Street rebounds on positive retail sales

US stocks surged Tuesday, bouncing back from Monday's selloff, as better-than-expected retail sales provided a boost to the market. In midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 70. 90 points, or 0.44 percent, to 16,328.84. The S&P 500 climbed 13. 55 points, or 0.74 percent, to 1,832.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index soared 50.85 points, or 1.24 percent, to 4,164.16. U.S. retail sales edged up 0.2 percent in December following a downwardly revised 0.4-percent gain in November, the Commerce Department said, exceeding market forecasts. "The December retail sales numbers look strong," said a research note Tuesday from FTN Financial. It also added the downward revisions to the October and November numbers must be taken into account. U.S. business inventories rose 0.4 percent in November from the preceding month, the department said in a separate report Tuesday. Moreover, U.S. import prices recorded no change in December following two months of declines, while export prices advanced 0.4 percent, the Labor Department said. A pair of notable banks posted a mixed picture in their earnings reports, followed by a bound of earnings reports from other giant banks later this week, which is expected to set the tone of the new earnings season. JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, early Tuesday reported a net income of 5.3 billion U.S. dollars for the fourth quarter of 2013, down from 5.7 billion dollars a year ago. Its revenue for the quarter was 24.1 billion dollars, down 1 percent compared with the previous year. Legal costs, including the recently announced settlement over JPMorgan's involvement in Bernard Madoff's fraud, took a toll on the bank's results in the fourth quarter. However, the bank's shares still slightly advanced in midday. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo & Company, the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, reported a record full-year and quarterly net income Tuesday. Its net income in 2013 was 21.9 billion dollars, up 16 percent from last year, while its fourth-quarter net income was 5. 6 billion dollars, up 10 percent year on year. Wells Fargo's record-setting performance was boosted by strong loan and deposit growth, continued improvement in credit quality and strengthened capital levels. But the bank's shares traded in negative territory in the morning trading session.