News that European leaders made a deal to expand a bailout fund in the region's debt crisis encouraged investors, and stocks soared around the world Thursday.

U.S. stocks made strong gains in early New York trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2 percent, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ moved up 2.5 percent.

European stocks soared in Thursday's afternoon trading. London's Financial Times index jumped 3.4 percent, the CAC-40 in Paris soared more than 6 percent while the DAX index in Frankfurt advanced 5.4 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained two percent to finish at 8,927. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared 3.3 percent to finish the day's trading at 19,689.

The price of gold fell nearly $6 to trade at $1,719.04 an ounce.

The dollar fell against the yen and the euro.