The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed early and held on throughout the day, closing ahead 0.56% at 12,921.41 as investors were buoyed by a strong U.S. Department of Commerce retail sales report indicating growth in the home building and automobile sectors.

Overall retail sales increased to 0.8% for March, a decrease from the 1% gain in February, but better than the 0.3% forecast by economists. The biggest rise came from building and garden supply retailers, who posted a 3% increase for the month.

The retail gains provided a strong counter punch to continued worries over Spain, where bond yields exceeded 6% in advance of tomorrow’s (Tuesday) auction of new Spanish bills, and Thursday’s auction of longer term bond.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) surged on its earnings report Monday, and a number of other banking majors rode the momentum. Citigroup announced earnings of $1.11 per share — a sign of optimism, as the figure eclipsed the $1 per share analysts had expected. Citigroup stock finished up 1.8% on the day.

Other financials headed higher included Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS, +2.9%), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS, +1.27%) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC, +1.3%), all of which report earnings this week. GS reports earnings April 17, and MS and BAC report April 19.

However, the optimism that buoyed the DJIA didn’t help the S&P 500 nor the Nasdaq, which finished flat and down 0.75%, respectively. Hitting the Nasdaq hard were declines in both Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL, -4.2%) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG, -2.97%). Apple alone represents 15% to 20% of the Nasdaq weighting, and AAPL shares continued a five-day retreat of more than 8% as investors took out some of the stock’s major year-to-date gains during the past month.

Three Up

• Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS): Up 14.5% ($5.23) to $41.21.
• Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM): Up 4.1% (53 cents) to $13.42.
• Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX): Up 4.1% ($1.12) to $28.50.

Three Down

• YPF (NYSE:YPF): Down 11.2% ($2.45) to $19.50.
• Linkedin (NYSE:LNKD): Down 5.75% ($6.16) to $101.08.
• Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN): Down 4.5% ($33.18) to $702.

Marc Bastow is an assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he was long AAPL.