* Banks rise after Wells Fargo preliminary results

* Retailers gain after sales fall less than expected

* Boeing falls after the bell on profit warning

* Dow up 3.1 pct, S&P up 3.8 pct, Nasdaq up 3.9 pct

* For up-to-the-minute market news click [STXNEWS/US] (Adds Boeing's slide after the bell, weekly percentage gains in the major U.S. stock indexes and volume figures)

By Leah Schnurr

NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday after Wells Fargo said it expects to report a record quarterly profit, fueling a month-long rally prompted by hopes that deterioration in the financial sector was abating.

Wells Fargo (WFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares shot up 31.7 percent to $19.61 after the bank saw strength in its mortgage banking business as refinancings hit a six-year high. That helped the bank forecast a profit of $3 billion for the first quarter, topping analysts' expectations. For more, see [ID:nN09260398]

The state of the banks has been a key factor behind the stock market's sentiment and is at the heart of the global economic crisis. The current rally to two-month highs first took off in early March when several major banks said they had made money at the beginning of the year.