By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Wall Street stocks ended higher and gold held near $3,000 per ounce on Monday after mixed economic data and ahead of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at ending the Ukraine war.

Over the weekend, U.S. strikes against Yemen's Houthi movement threatened to escalate tensions in the oil-rich Middle East, driving crude prices higher on supply fears.

All three major U.S. stock indexes were in positive territory, with weakness in Tesla, Nvidia and Amazon.com shares holding the Nasdaq's gains in check.

Trump said he would speak with Putin on Tuesday to discuss a potential Russia-Ukraine cease-fire proposal, which could alleviate some geopolitical uncertainty.

"There has been a pretty big selloff, so some sort of a rebound, is to be expected and I think that's part of what we're seeing," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors, in New York. "And the prospect of Russia and Ukraine developing a cease-fire that could end up leading to a more permanent peace, it's positive for markets, not just in the U.S. but globally."

Weaker-than-expected U.S. retail sales data was at least partially attributable to cheaper gasoline; a solid rebound in online receipts and an upside surprise in the core measure showed underlying consumer strength.

"We had relatively weaker than expected (retail sales) for February, which would tend to indicate less inflationary pressures that would potentially offset the effect of tariffs," Pursche added.

The U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks are expected to convene for policy meetings this week, but are largely expected to keep to the sidelines until the ramifications of Trump's multi-front tariff war can be further assessed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 353.44 points, or 0.85%, to 41,841.63, the S&P 500 rose 36.18 points, or 0.64%, to 5,675.12 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 54.58 points, or 0.31%, to 17,808.66.

European shares extended their rally as Germany's debt reform plans helped to boost confidence that Europe's largest economy will increase spending and kick-start growth.

Investors were also focused on the outcome of Ukraine-Russian cease-fire talks, which could translate to lower energy costs for Europe.

European stocks have handily outperformed their global counterparts so far this year.

Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 18.02 points, or 0.83%.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 7.35 points, or 0.88%, to 843.49.