Upbeat retail sales boost markets

The markets soared during the midday with the Dow leaping 240 points to 16,608 on upbeat retail sales. Nasdaq surged 52 points to 4,858.

On the upside

Gray Television (NYSE: GTN) will acquire all the television and radio stations of Schurz Communications for approximately $442.5 million.

The 2016 Cadillac ATS and CTS sedans will include as a standard feature Continental Automotive Systems' Maxwell Technologies (NYSE: MXWL) powered voltage stabilization system.

Shares of Advaxis (Nasdaq: ADXS) continued climbing.

On the downside

Versartis (Nasdaq: VSAR) modified its ongoing Phase 3 registration trial of somavaratan.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst John Baugh downgraded Conns (Nasdaq: CONN) from a Buy rating to a Hold rating.

Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) has been unsuccessful in negotiating a debt exchange with its creditors.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 leaped 24 points to 1,977. Bitcoin eased a fraction to $228.