Global stocks surge to new highs on Draghi plan

US stocks closed at multi-year highs on Thursday, with the S&P 500 ending at its highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers as investors hailed a new European bond-buying program aimed at stemming the region's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 244.52 points, or 1.87 percent, to 13,292.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 28.68 points, or 2.04 percent, at 1,432.12-- its highest level since May 2008, before the financial crisis began to gather steam. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 65.12 points, or 2.12 percent, at 3,134.39.

European shares rallied and geared up for further gains as investors welcomed a European Central Bank plan to buy the sovereign bonds of debt market strugglers, as well as strong US economic data.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 2.4 percent to 1,104.76, with trading volume hitting a three-month high at 285 million shares, or 140 percent of the index's 90-day average.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average closed flat, having barely stirred through the day as investors anxiously awaited a policy review at the European Central Bank.

The Nikkei tiptoed up 0.75 point to 8,680.57. The broader Topix index inched up 0.1 percent to 719.00 in moderate trade.