Stocks find relief in China trade surprise

Asian shares made their first real rally of the year on Wednesday after Chinese trade data handily beat expectations, offering a rare shaft of light for the global economy.

The Asian giant reported exports dipped 1.4 percent in U.S. dollar terms in December, when analysts had looked for a drop of 8.0 percent. A 4.0 percent fall in imports was also much smaller than many had feared.

While investors harbour suspicions about the reliability of the data, on the surface they offered hope that world trade flows were at least stabilising after a dismal 2015.

It also suggested Beijing might prove successful in its increasingly forceful attempts to steady the yuan, so diminishing the danger of a sustained devaluation.

All of which was enough to temper the extreme levels of risk aversion that had built up over recent days.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sped ahead by 1.6 percent and away from its lowest since late 2011.

Japan's Nikkei jumped 2.6 percent while battered Australian stocks gained 1.3 percent. The good cheer spread to E-mini futures contracts for the S&P 500 which climbed 0.8 percent.

Spreadbetters IG were tipping opening gains of around 0.7 percent for the FTSE, 1.2 percent for the DAX and 1 percent for the CAC.