After more than a year of speculation, Mr. Draghi, the never-predictable head of the European Central Bank, has given global investors what they have clamored for, with an extra twist: an open-ended commitment to buy eurozone government bonds in bulk.
And in doing so, Mr. Draghi announced to the world that Europe, stuck in a cycle of low growth and deflation, would at long last follow the lead of the United States, Japan and Britain by unleashing the full money-printing powers of its own central bank.
Across the board, the yields on eurozone bonds, from Germany to Greece, declined as traders rushed to scoop up bonds before the E.C.B. started buying. Riskier corporate and high-yield bonds, as well as European stocks, also rallied strongly on the news. The euro, already on a downward slope, lost 2 percent against the dollar, to $1.1361.
Stocks in the United States, which have been under pressure in recent weeks, surged on the news, with the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index increasing 1.5 percent for the day.
While Mr. Draghi had been expected to announce a plan to buy eurozone government bonds, the size and extent of the purchases came as a surprise.
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By DAVID JOLLY and JACK EWING
The program, worth about $69.7 billion a month, is more than analysts had been expecting as the European Central Bank tries to fend off stagnation.
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