NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks rose Tuesday morning, with a strong financial sector leading the way amid stellar earnings from Goldman Sachs and falling Treasury yields.

The Nasdaq composite (up 7.91 to 2,274.94, Charts) added 0.2 percent roughly 50 minutes into the session. The Standard & Poor's 500 (up 3.31 to 1,287.44, Charts) index and the Dow Jones industrial average (up 21.05 to 11,097.07, Charts) saw smaller gains.

The stock market was mixed Monday as merger news was overshadowed by rising oil prices and higher Treasury yields.

Tuesday brought a similar assortment of news. Yet, investors seemed to focus on the positive, overlooking weaker retail sales, higher oil prices and a mild forecast from Procter & Gamble.

Goldman Sachs (up $6.27 to $146.99, Research) rose 4.8 percent after reporting quarterly earnings and revenue that rose from a year earlier and trounced estimates.

The strong earnings -- as well as falling Treasury bond yields -- gave a boost to the broader bank sector.

The Amex Securities Broker/Dealer (Charts) index gained 1.5 percent. In addition to Goldman, other components rising included Morgan Stanley (Research) and Lehman Brothers (up $2.78 to $145.00, Research), which both added around 3 percent.

Among other movers, Procter & Gamble (down $1.99 to $59.99, Research) lost over 3 percent after the Dow component issued a milder-than-hoped for third-quarter profit outlook late Monday.

The consumer products maker said sales would increase between five and six percent, versus an earlier projection of as much as 7 percent. The company also said that earnings per share would be between 59 and 61 cents, versus analysts' forecasts for a rise of 61 cents.

Homebuilders, semiconductors and telecoms were also higher.

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers by a narrow margin on volume of 265 million shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers and decliners were narrowly mixed on volume of 425 million shares.

February retail sales fell a more-than-expected 1.3 percent, after rising 2.3 percent in January. Sales excluding autos eased 0.4 percent in February, a narrower drop than what Wall Street economists were expecting, on average.

The retail sales report is the first reading in a busy week of economic news. Later in the week, reports on manufacturing, housing, consumer sentiment and consumer prices are due.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery added 8 cents to $61.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after gaining 3 percent Monday.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.71 percent from 4.77 percent late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar was weaker versus the euro and the yen.

COMEX gold for April delivery fell 70 cents to $546.80 an ounce.

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