Updated December 27, 2018 09:47:30

Photo: US markets rebounded as the Trump administration tried to reassure investors after a heavy sell-off. (Reuters: Brendan McDermid)

Wall Street has rebounded from its worst Christmas Eve sell-off ever — with the Dow Jones surging almost 1,100 points to set a new record for the largest point gain in a trading session.

The local share market is expected to follow that strong lead, and start the day higher. ASX futures indicate a 0.7 per cent gain in early trade.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has lifted to 70.6 US cents, 55.8 British pence and 62.1 Euro cents.

While no longer in bear market territory, it is still the worst December for US markets since the height of the Great Depression in 1931.

The Trump administration's attempts to restore confidence in the market may have helped US markets somewhat.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters that US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's job was "100 per cent" safe, and that President Donald Trump was happy with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

His reassurance comes two days after Mr Trump tweeted that the Fed, by maintaining its interest-rate-hiking cycle, is the US economy's "only problem".

It also follows that the President had privately discussed firing Mr Powell — an unprecedented event which would have triggered an even bigger market meltdown.

Sharpest rebound in a decade

The Dow Jones index surged by a record 1,086 points to set a new record.

In percentage terms, the Dow rose 5 per cent, to 22,878 at 4:00pm (New York time) — its biggest single-day jump since early March 2009.

The benchmark S&P 500 finished sharply higher, up 5 per cent to 2,468.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index outperformed, rising 5.8 per cent to 6,554.

"It seems like a bear-market rally," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

"Usually they don't last very long, but this could continue till the month ends.

"We are in a bear market and when that happens the whole market gets cheap.

"Investors will likely go for low [valuation] names because they could get into the market that way without getting into trouble."

Retail stocks, particularly Amazon, provided the biggest boost to the market.

Amazon's share price soared 9.5 per cent after reporting that it achieved a "record-breaking" sales this holiday season.

Furthermore, sales in the US holiday shopping season rose 5.1 per cent to over $US850 billion, the strongest in six years, according to a report by Mastercard.

Energy stocks also lifted the market, after the price of Brent crude oil bounced back 8.4 per cent $US54.69 per barrel.

ABC/Reuters

Topics: business-economics-and-finance, markets, stockmarket, currency, australia

First posted December 27, 2018 07:52:59