U.S. Markets Close With Strong Gains

U.S. markets rallied Thursday in New York as retail stores made gains and telecommunications giant Verizon said it would add to its holdings.

Same-store retail data showed a 3 percent rise in the month of May. Verizon’s announcement that it would purchase regional wireless service Alltel Corp. and Atlantis Holding LLC for $28.1 billion also boosted investor confidence, analysts said.

By close Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 213.97 points to 12,604.45, up 1.73 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 26.85 to 1,404.80, up 1.95 percent. The Nasdaq composite index gained 46.80 to 2,549.94, up 1.87 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,482 stocks advanced and 646 declined on a volume of 1.288 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 17/32 to yield 4.048 percent.

The dollar was mixed. The euro traded at $1.5592 from Wednesday’s $1.5435, while the dollar traded at 105.93 yen from Wednesday’s 105.22 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index lost 94.40 points to 14,341.12, off 0.65 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 22.10 to 5,992.20, up 0.37 percent.