US open: Dow surges 160 points on global rally

Shortly before 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 161 points to 16,633.59, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were 27 and 81 points higher respectively.

Asian and European stocks gain

Asian equity markets advanced, led higher by expectations the Chinese government will implement further stimulus measures, while European stocks were firmly in the black.

On Friday, Wall Street brushed off a largely disappointing non-farm payrolls report, which all but ruled out an October interest rates hike by the Federal Reserve.

“The prospect of a longer period of low interest rates and perhaps a lower dollar would be a boon for US multinationals who have seen revenues drop thanks to a strengthening of the dollar in the past year,” said Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets.

However, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said the US central bank still had a case to raise interest rates this year, despite a “weak” employment report for September.

“If this is an anomalous report, then, if the data came in sufficiently, I would be comfortable possibly raising rates by the end of the year,” he said.

Still to come on the economic calendar, at 1445 BST investors will analyse the final reading for September’s Markit composite and services purchasing managers’ index.

The highlight of the session comes shortly after, with the ISM non-manufacturing composite reading for September on tap at 1500 BST, with the labour market conditions index change for September out at the same time.

In company news, American Apparel tumbled 6.34% after the company filed for bankruptcy earlier on Monday.

General Electric jumped 4%, after activist shareholder Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management LP said it has accumulated a 1% stake in the group, for a total value of approximately $2.5bn.

Elsewhere, the dollar gained 1.7% against the yen and and 0.10% against both the dollar and the pound, while gold futures rose 0.06% to $1,139.25.

Oil prices rose, with West Texas Intermediate and Brent both climbing over 2.1% to %46.53 and $49.22 a barrel respectively.