US stock markets open strongly as Wall Street rallies

US stock markets jumped in early trading today despite continuing losses in Asia and ongoing concerns about the Chinese economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial average jumped 400 points minutes after the opening bell, a rise of 2%, recovering almost a third of the losses made since Monday (24 August). The S&P 500 gained 1.5% and the Nasdaq was up 2.5%.

The rises were in contrast to how European indices reacted.

The FTSE 100 fell by more than 1.5% on Wednesday 26 August and Germany's DAX opened 160 points lower, a decline of -1.68%, after recovering on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 opened 70 points lower while the Euro Stoxx 50 dropped more than 2%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite lost 1.27%, a less severe loss than earlier in the week but investors appear unconvinced by the government's latest attempt to prop up the market following so called Black Monday.

Yesterday the People's Bank of China announced it would cut the requirement reserve ratio for investors by 0.5 percentage points, the seventh cut since November 2014.

US investors were likely more positive than shareholders in Europe after durable goods orders jumped by 2.2% in July, the biggest rise in more than a year.

The US Department of Commerce also revealed that retail sales, the housing market and overall consumer spending in the US indicate a continued economic recovery.