US markets defied a raft of disappointing economic data to finish stronger overnight.

Yesterday's update on China's manufacturing sector revealed factory output contracted at the fastest pace since last July.

It was a similar story in Europe, where a number of eurozone nations reported weaker-than-expected manufacturing activity in February.

The news wasn't all bad however, as a flash estimate of US manufacturing activity beat expectations and saw Wall Street rebound from its prior session losses.

The Dow climbed 92 points (+0.6%) to 16133, the Nasdaq put on 30 points (+0.7%) to 4268 and the S&P500 added 11 points (+0.6%) to 1840.

The major commodities eased slightly. Oil was weighed down by concerns over the impact weaker manufacturing activity will have on energy demand.

The greenback logged widespread gains versus other currencies, and was strongest against the resource-linked currencies like the Aussie, which was hurt by yesterday's disastrous China PMI result.

There is no major economic data due for release today.

Morning Market Update: Undenia-bulls is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog