Afternoon markets: Rise in retail sales fails to lift Dow

A 2.7% rise in retail sales failed to raise investors' spirits and the Dow Jones fell 11.56 points (0.12%) to 9,615.24. US telecoms giants, Verizon and AT&T, saw shares fall back after Deutsche Telekom announced it plans to buy Spirit Nextel Corp and merge it with its T-Mobile USA subsidiary. Verizon shares dropped 1% to $30.76, while AT&T lost 0.68% to $26.35. In London, shares climbed after telecoms regulator Ofcom relaxed restrictions on BT. The FTSE 100 index was up 40.68 points (0.81%) to 5,059.53 just before 3pm. BT added 5.2% to 136.55 pence per share after Ofcom relax...