NATIONAL

Solid earnings from Verizon Communications Inc. lifted stocks Tuesday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to its best close in six years even as oil prices neared an all-time high.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 73.16, or 0.64 percent, to 11,416.45, its best close since finishing at 11,489.59 on Jan. 19, 2000. The Dow is 2.6 percent off a record high of 11,722.98. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 8.02, or 0.61 percent, to 1,313.21, and the Nasdaq composite index added 5.05, or 0.22 percent, to 2,309.84.

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