Investing.com -- U.S. stocks surged on Thursday, enjoying one of their strongest performances of the month, amid robust earnings from several prominent companies and indications from the European Central Bank that it will introduce further stimulus measures before the end of the year.
Shares in McDonald`s Corporation (N:MCD) jumped more than 8% to a record-high of 111.00, after the world's largest fast-food chain reported better than expected results during its third quarter of fiscal year 2015 on Thursday. McDonald's (N:MCD) global sales among established restaurants soared 4% on the quarter, amid resurgent demand in China and the company's decision to swap margarine for butter on its Egg McMuffin sandwiches. McDonald's is in the midst of completing wholesale changes in its corporate structure since Steve Easterbrook took over as CEO earlier this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Composite index each rose by more than 1.5% during Thursday's session to reach nine-week highs. The Dow gained 320.55 or 1.87% to close at 17,489.16, while the S&P 500 added 33.57 or 1.66% to 2,052.51, as nine of 10 sectors closed in the green. Stocks in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Technology industries led, each gaining more than 2.25% on the day.
The NASDAQ Composite index also closed dramatically higher, despite being limited by continued weakness among health care and hospital stocks. Shares in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (N:VRX) fell sharply again on Thursday, after nearly plunging 20% one session earlier amid a report from a short-seller accusing the company of falsifying records in an effort to bolster revenues. The NASDAQ still added 79.93 or 1.65% to end Thursday's session at 4,920.05.
All three major indices received a boost on Thursday morning after ECB president Mario Draghi offered strong hints that the central bank is prepared to cut interest rates in the euro zone from their current record-low of 0.5% and extend the scope of its €1.1 trillion bond buying program. Draghi's comments sent the dollar soaring more than 1.4% and pushed EUR/USD to its lowest level in three weeks.
McDonald's finished the day as the top performer on the Dow after adding 8.33 or 8.12% to 110.87. The restaurant chain expects sales to grow exponentially following its decision to offer all-day breakfasts earlier in the fall. The worst performer was American Express Company (N:AXP), which fell 4.01 or 5.24% to 72.50, after reporting an 11% dip in its quarterly earnings.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was eBay Inc (O:EBAY), which soared 3.37 or 13.92% to 27.58. On Wednesday eBay beat expectations with its quarterly earnings, demonstrating to investors that the company has continued to flourish following its split from PayPal. The worst performer was Mylan (O:MYL) which fell 1.73 or 4.23% to 39.16. Mylan finished just below health information technology supplier Cerner Corporation (O:CERN), which lost 2.54 or 3.87% to 63.16.
Hospital stocks have plunged since HCA Holdings Inc (N:HCA), the world's largest for profit operator of health care facilities, said last week that facility admissions had fallen sharply last quarter on a year-over-year basis. On Thursday, shares in Community Health Systems Inc (N:CYH) plummeted more than 35% to 26.30, amid weak revenue and EBITDA last quarter. Weakness in the hospital sector also dragged down Tenet Healthcare Corporation (N:THC), which fell by nearly 20% to 28.24. Tenet ended the day as the worst performer on the S&P 500.
Ebay was also the top performer on the S&P 500, just above Citrix Systems Inc (O:CTXS), which gained 8.63 or 12% to 80.55. A host of major companies including: Microsoft Corporation (O:MSFT), Amazon.com Inc (O:AMZN), AT&T Inc (N:T) and Alphabet Inc (O:GOOGL) are scheduled to report quarterly earnings after the close of trading.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 2,321 to 802 margin.