Wall Street surged Thursday on better-than-expected retail sales and...
Sales in May at Wal-Mart Stores, the world biggest retailer, and Costco Wholesale beat analysts' estimates. Wal-Mart climbed to a four-year high, while Costco posted its biggest gain in three weeks.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that applications for unemployment benefits drooped 18,000 from the previous Week to 357,000, alleviating investors' concerns about the health of the job market.
Verizon Wireless agreed to acquire Alltel Communications LLC for 5.9 billion U.S. dollars in cash and the assumption of 22.2 billion dollars in debt, which could make it the largest cellphone operator in the United States.
Moreover, Lehman Brothers advanced after Deutsche Bank AG recommended buying its shares. The Wall Street firm lost more than30 percent of its market value in the past month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 213.97, or 1.73 percent, to 12,604.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 26.85, or 1.95 percent, to 1,404.05, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 46.80, or 1.87 percent, to 2,549.94.
