The U.S. Federal Reserve has unveiled several rounds of quantitative easing measures to energize the U.S. economy.

The central bank announced on Thursday that it will buy 40 billion dollars in mortgage-backed securities each month. When considering that the bank is already implementing a maturity extension program, it's expected to buy 85 billion dollars worth of long-term securities through the end of this year.

Also on Thursday, the Federal Reserve said it plans to keep short-term interest rates at "exceptionally low levels" until mid-2015.

Following the bank’s announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange rose one-and-a-half percent, posting the highest figure since 2007.