NEW YORK, April 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended lower on Monday, as investors reacted to rising Treasury yields and geopolitical tensions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 248.13 points, or 0.65 percent, to 37,735.11. The S&P 500 sank 61.59 points, or 1.20 percent, to 5,061.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 290.08 points, or 1.79 percent, to 15,885.02.

All of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with technology and real estate leading the laggards by going down 1.99 percent and 1.77 percent, respectively. Health posted the weakest decline, down 0.19 percent.

U.S. Treasury yields pushed sharply higher after the report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose by more than 11 basis points to 4.616 percent in the session, touching its highest level since mid-November. The 2-year Treasury yield added nearly 4 basis points, sitting at 4.92 percent, as of 4:06 p.m. EDT.

In March, despite rising inflation, consumers remained undeterred and continued to shop at a faster rate than expected, as per the Commerce Department's report on Monday. Retail sales surged by 0.7 percent for the month, surpassing the Dow Jones consensus forecast of a 0.3 percent increase.

Monday's data arrived amidst heightened market concerns regarding the direction of monetary policy. Federal Reserve officials have voiced caution regarding interest rate cuts amid ongoing inflation pressures, leading investors to revise down their expectations for policy easing this year.

Andrew Hunter, Capital Economics' deputy chief U.S. economist, suggested that robust consumer spending might prompt the Fed to delay rate cuts further. "Alongside the recent resurgence in employment growth, the continued resilience of consumption is another reason to suspect the Fed will wait longer before starting to cut interest rates, which now we think won't happen until September."

Investor sentiment was further dampened by Iran's launch of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night. This attack, the first direct one from Iranian territory, raised concerns despite most threats being intercepted, leaving worries about potential retaliation.

"It's really all trading off of news snippets and pieces that are coming out of the Middle East right now," said Alex McGrath, chief investment officer at NorthEnd Private Wealth. "It kind of throws this fear fly into the ointment, so to speak."

In corporate news, Tesla shares tumbled 5.59 percent on Monday as the company announced a plan to lay off more than 10 percent of global workforce.

Goldman Sachs reported a significant 28 percent increase in first-quarter profit, driven by robust results in investment banking and the expanding segment of managing wealth for affluent clients. The bank's net income reached 4.1 billion dollars, surpassing analyst predictions. Revenues surged to 14.2 billion dollars compared to the previous year, boosted notably by a 32 percent surge in investment banking fees. Enditem

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