The stock gave the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Dow.
Dow Chemical rose 5.1 percent to $49.92 after its results, while the S&P materials index jumped 2.8 percent and led the S&P sector gains along with the industrials, also up 2.8 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 321 points, or 1.87%, to 17,489, the S&P 500 gained 34 points, or 1.66%, to 2,053 and the Nasdaq Composite added 80 points, or 1.65%, to 4,920.
Markets in the United States staged a strong rally overnight, following back-to-back sessions of losses, with corporate results from McDonald’s and Dow Chemical boosting sentiment.
Cassidy said the biggest factor for investors scrutinizing the reports would be revenue, which has been hurt by a slowing global economy and a stronger dollar.
Technology companies with large gains included Apple (+1.5 percent), Facebook (+2.6 percent), Intel (+3.1 percent) and Microsoft (+1.8 percent).
European equities rocketed higher after ECB President Mario Draghi said he expected eurozone inflation to stay “very low” for the near term and that the central bank would analyze in December whether current stimulus efforts are sufficient.
In other company news, eBay jumped 8.88% in pre-market trading after reporting better-than-expected earnings late on Wednesday, while Texas Instruments rose 7.90% after its quarterly profit and revenue beat expectations.
Data showed US unemployment benefits claims increased 3,000 to 259,000 last week, below the 265,000 expected.
In economic data today, Markit’s manufacturing PMI will cross at 9:45 a.m., and new home sales at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals worldwide slumped 7.4 percent as it scheduled a conference call for Monday to refute claims by Citron Research suggesting Valeant is the “pharmaceutical Enron” with fraudulent finances.
American Express fell 5.9 percent to $72.03 after its quarterly profit missed estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,312 to 791, for a 2.92-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,777 issues rose and 1,001 fell for a 1.78-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
Post-it Notes maker 3M Co.(MMM) said it was cutting a few 1,500 jobs as a part of a broad restructuring, while machinery company Caterpillar(CAT) slashed its outlook after its profit tumbled 64% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/caterpillar-slashes-outlook-as-profit-falls-64-2015-10-22).
The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and 9 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 82 new highs and 91 new lows.
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
