U.S. markets ended the day with substantial gains on the back of a fast food giant’s strong earnings report and news that European interest rates will remain unchanged for the time being.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 321 points, or 1.9%, by the close. Thursday’s gains represented a rebound from a day earlier, when the broader market declined on falling oil prices. The Dow is now up roughly 1.6% for the week. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite each gained roughly 1.7% during Thursday trading, leaving both indices in the green by less than 1% so far this week.
Thursday’s gains came after the European Central Bank announced its decision to leave interest rates unchanged, while ECB President Mario Draghi also hinted that the central bank could move forward with additional quantitative easing to stimulate the European economy later this year. That news helped the U.S. dollar surge versus the euro while also sparking European stocks to increase for the day.
The rise in U.S. stocks also followed a strong earnings report from McDonald’s (MCD), which reported before the opening bell and posted surprisingly strong same-store sales growth as well as overall third-quarter revenue that also beat Wall Street’s expectations. The strong earnings report sent McDonald’s stock to record highs on Thursday before ending the day up by nearly 8%.
