Dow caps biggest rally in one month amid Draghi’s pledge

A vote of confidence from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi sent stock prices higher on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 211.88 points to 12,887.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 39.01 points to 2,893.25, and the S&P 500 Stock Index was up 22.13 points to 1,360.02.

The markets were also encouraged by a report showing initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 35,000 in the past week to 353,000.

After the close, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) reported it lost $157 million in the past quarter, its first report as a publicly traded company. In after-hours trading, shares of Facebook were down more than 10 percent. An earnings report from Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX) also disappointed investors.

Gold was up $7 an ounce to $1,615.10, and oil added 42 cents to $89.39 a barrel.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), the maker of Post-It Notes, and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), the world’s largest payments network, rose at least 2 percent amid better-than-estimated earnings. PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM), the nation’s largest homebuilder by revenue, surged 18 percent on a jump in orders. Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) rallied more than 20 percent after their results.

“It is a big deal,” said Liz Ann Sonders, the New York-based chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW), which has $1.8 trillion in client assets. “The markets have been looking for a more definitive acknowledgement by key people like Draghi that they are willing to do what they need to do. We feel that if they want to save the euro, it would involve true QE,” she said, referring to bond buying to stimulate the economy.

Draghi said on Thursday that policy makers would do whatever necessary to save the euro.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM), which helps businesses deliver data more quickly over the Internet, soared 24 percent to $35.04. The company reported profit and revenue that beat estimates, benefiting from the growth of cloud computing.

Western Digital Corp. (Nasdaq: WDC) jumped 21 percent, the most since 2002, to $39.27. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter sales and profit that topped analysts’ estimates.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (Nasdaq: Nasdaq: WFM) climbed 11 percent, the biggest gain since February 2011, to $94.10. The grocer reported third-quarter profit that rose more than analysts estimated and boosted its annual earnings forecast as sales gained at established stores.

Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) rose 11 percent to $40.09 after the provider of credit ratings reported second-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates.

The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) gained 11 percent to $7.80. The company reported a narrower loss in the second quarter amid a gain in digital subscriptions.

CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) jumped 4.9 percent to $32.63. The owner of the television network will raise its quarterly dividend 20 percent to 12 cents and expand a stock buyback program to as much as $4.7 billion.

Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) slumped 3.6 percent to $29.18. The chemical company reported a bigger drop in earnings and sales than analysts estimated and said the outlook for global demand for the rest of the year is “bleak.”

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) slid 6.3 percent to $38.57, the lowest since 2009. The largest U.S. iron-ore producer forecast higher costs and lower prices.

Airline stocks fell, giving a benchmark index its longest decline in two years, after United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) posted a quarterly profit that missed analysts’ estimates. United slid 5.9 percent to $19.20.

The Bloomberg U.S. For-Profit Education Index fell 5.1 percent, to the lowest level since the data started being compiled in 2005. ITT Educational Services Inc. (NYSE: ESI) sank 15 percent to $42.78, and Strayer Education Inc. (Nasdaq: STRA) plunged 12 percent to $79.44.

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) slid 6.8 percent to $4.97.

Cash America International Inc. (NYSE: CSH) dropped 19 percent, the most since 2005, to $36.69.