US markets report: Wall Street jumps on China export news as oil climbs back up

US markets climbed after the opening bell rang on Wall Street on 13 January. Following the news that Chinese exports increased unexpectedly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 65 points, or 0.31%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.44%.

The biggest riser on the Nasdaq was Microsoft, which gained 1.16%. Investment advisers at Morgan Stanley upgraded the tech company's stock to "overweight" from "equal weight", citing the company's possibilities using cloud technology as argument to buy.

The surge in US markets comes as a result of Chinese exports beating expectations in December 2015. On a US dollar-currency basis, exports fell by 1.4%, against an 8% fall expected.

Meanwhile, oil is climbing back from its lowest point since December 2003. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate briefly traded below $30 but climbed back to $31. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst at London Capital Group, pointed out Goldman Sachs, which has a $20 target price for oil, is no longer the most bearish forecaster anymore.

Panic comments from the Royal Bank of Scotland, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered briefly shocked investors, with RBS and StanChart targeting oil at $16 and $10 respectively.

"Today's weekly US crude inventory will in all likelihood be another market mover with a build of 1.9 million barrels expected, up from last week's 5.1 million draw," Ozkardeskaya said.

On the FTSE 100 in the UK, commodity traders and miners were leading the surge, with the market comfortably in the black. BP and Anglo American were among the biggest risers, both gaining more than 3.5%.

Overall, European markets traded up on 13 January, with the FTSE 100 gaining more than 1.15%. Germany's DAX was up 1.08%, continuing gains made on 12 January and following gains made in Asian markets. Except for the Shanghai Composite, Asian stock markets closed the day in the black.

On the gains for 12 January, Ozkardeskaya said: "Despite the overriding pessimism around oil prices both European and US markets managed to finish yesterday in positive territory, briefly snapping their recent correlations with the fortunes of the oil price."