* Automaker's shares jump 7 percent on first day of return
* Optimism over Ireland debt deal sparks broad rally
* CBOE Volatility index falls below 20
* Dow up 1.6 pct, S&P up 1.8 pct, Nasdaq up 1.9 pct (Updates to afternoon)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street rallied on Thursday, achieving solid gains for the first time this week as concerns about Ireland's debt crisis eased and strong interest in General Motors on its landmark return suggested stocks were still valuable.
General Motors Co's shares gained 7 percent to $35.27 in the debut of its landmark IPO, the biggest in U.S. history. Trading in the Detroit automaker's shares accounted for nearly 8 percent of composite volume, according to Thomson Reuters data.
"We are still being moved a lot by macro factors, and today we got a good one from Ireland," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at Channel Capital Research in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
The GM initial public offering also indicates that "the demand is still out there, giving reassurance to investors," he said.
Reflecting less uncertainty in the market, the CBOE Volatility index, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, fell 12.1 percent at 19.13 after remaining above 20 for most of the week.
Ireland's central bank chief expected the country to receive tens of billions of euros in loans from European partners and the International Monetary Fund to help shore up its shattered banks and stabilize the economy..
"The fear was what would happen if Ireland were to go down, what reverberations and aftershocks we were going to see," said Paul Larson, equities strategist at Morningstar in Chicago.
"What this does is to steady that first domino."
Markets have fallen recently on concerns that unless Ireland received a bailout, problems in other heavily indebted euro zone members would spread, hindering a global recovery. The S&P 500 slipped nearly 4 percent since Nov. 5.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 180.88 points, or 1.64 percent, at 11,188.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 20.67 points, or 1.75 percent, at 1,199.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 47.86 points, or 1.93 percent, at 2,523.87.
U.S.-listed shares of Bank of Ireland climbed 11 percent to $2.39, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1.3 percent.
Relief over Ireland prompted a broad U.S. rally, with most S&P sectors gaining more than 1 percent.
The S&P materials index was up 2.6 percent, while the financials index climbed 1.8 percent.
The S&P Industrials index also rose 2 percent as GM's advance boosted shares of other automakers and auto suppliers.
In economic news, initial jobless claims rose less than expected in the latest week, while factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region grew much more than forecast and a gauge of future U.S. economic activity rose solidly in October. and
On the downside, Sears Holding Corp fell 5.9 percent to $62.28 after its quarterly loss widened and sales fell. (Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Kenneth Barry)