Dawn Chorus: Strong manufacturing data triggers Wall Street rally

Wall Street surged on Wednesday registering its best day in eight weeks as investors welcomed better-than-expected factory data from the US and China, the world's two biggest economies.

In an upbeat start to a new month, the S&P 500 closed up 3% to 1,080, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.5% to 10,269 and the Nasdaq Composite was 3% higher at 2,177.

The stock rally followed Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing data that showed an unexpected increase in US manufacturing activity last month. Negative data on private payrolls and construction spending failed to dampen the positive sentiment. Private sector payrolls unexpectedly fell by 10,000 in August while construction spending was also worse than expected, declining to a 10-year low in July.

Gains on the S&P were led by manufacturing, energy and financial shares. Caterpillar rose 4.6%, while Exxon Mobil gained 3.1%.

Among financial shares, Bank of America jumped 6.1%, Citigroup rose 3.7% and JPMorgan Chase climbed 3.8%.

In Europe, equities rallied to register their biggest daily gain in more than three months yesterday, on upbeat manufacturing data from the US and China. The FTSEurofirst 300 rose 2.9% to close at 1,056 points - its biggest one-day percentage rise since May 27. Britain's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX both ended the day 2.7% higher. France's CAC 40 rose 3.8%.

In Asia, markets are edging higher today after the US and Chinese manufacturing data eased investor worries about the global economy.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei gained 109 points, or 1.2%, to 9,036 points by the midday break. The broader Topix inched up 0.8% to 817 points.

Shares of Chinese automakers rose sharply today after China's 59.3% jump in car sales last month surprised the market. The leading automaker, SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, rose 8.6% in Shanghai in early trade.

Shanghai Composite Index added 0.85% to 2,646 points as of 03.28 BST, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gaining 1.3% to 20,894 points. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.65% to 4,525 points.