NEW YORK, May 15 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes climbed to the close Thursday in spite of news U.S. industrial production slowed in April.

The U.S. Federal Reserve said production fell 0.7 percent in April after an increase of 0.2 percent in March.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 94.28 points, or 0.73 percent, to 12,992.66. The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 14.91 points, or 1.06 percent, to 1,423.57. The Nasdaq composite index gained 37.03 points, or 1.48 percent, to 2,513.88.

On the New York Stock Exchange 2,192 stocks advanced and 911 declined on a volume of 1.195 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 24/32 to yield 3.828 percent.

The euro traded at $1.545 from Wednesday's $1.5461 and the dollar traded at 104.76 yen from Tuesday's 105.10 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index rose 0.94 percent or 133.19 points to 14,251.74.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 35.80 points to 6,251.80, up 0.58 percent.

LONDON, May 15 (UPI) -- The governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, warns Britain is facing tough economic times ahead.

The nice decade is behind us, King said.

In a quarterly report on inflation Wednesday, King said Britain would face rising food and energy costs, an economic slowdown amounting to 1 percent growth for 2008 and decreases in pay raises, The Daily Mail reported.

King also said the housing market would deteriorate markedly.

He also said the Bank of England should not take a heavy hand in helping the economy as it adjusts to new realities.

We are traveling along a bumpy road as the economy re-balances. Monetary policy shouldn't try to prevent that adjustment, King said.

The message would seem to be that the bank's rate-setting committee expects to cut rates only once more at the most, economic analyst Jonathan Loynes of Capital Economics said in response to King's statements.

LANSING, Mich., May 15 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. said Thursday it had reached a tentative agreement with workers at its Lansing, Mich., Delta Township Assembly plant.

The union also informed its workers that an agreement had been reached, but advised workers, on strike since April 17, to remain on the picket line until the agreement had been ratified by a union vote, the Detroit Free Press reported.

GM has been hit by a series of strikes this year. Workers remain on picket lines at GM plants in Kansas City, Kan., while work shortages continue at more than 30 other plants affected by a strike at parts supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Inc

CHICAGO, May 15 (UPI) -- Gypsum wallboard producer USG Corp. of East Chicago, Ill, has cut production by 75 percent in the wake of a construction slowdown, the company said.

Since 2006, USG Corp., which uses synthetic gypsum, has laid off 1,750 workers, the Chicago Sun Times reported Thursday.

This year, the company raised prices by 20 percent, as it faces production cutbacks amounting to 3.5 billion square feet of wallboard over the past seven quarters, the report said.

This place is battened down tight, Chief Executive Officer William Foote said after the company's annual shareholder meeting Wednesday.

USG has been trying to expand its ceiling tile production, upgrade plants and open new ones.

The company is building new wallboard plants in Washingtonville, Pa., and Stockton, Calif., and has plans to produce ceiling tiles in Beijing, China and open a joint-treatment compound plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, the report said.