US stocks have surged in opening trade, joining European equities in rallying after a five-day streak of losses left US indices in correction territory.

About 15 minutes into trade on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,173.33, up 301.98 points (1.90 per cent).

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 38.58 (2.04 per cent) to 1,931.79, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 108.71 (2.40 per cent) to 4,634.95.

All 30 members of the Dow were in positive territory, with especially strong gains for Apple (+5.1 per cent), JPMorgan Chase (+3.8 per cent) and Procter & Gamble (+2.9 per cent).

If Tuesday's early gains hold, US stocks will end a five-day skid sparked by worries over a plunging Chinese stock market and the risk that the Chinese economy is weaker than thought. On Monday, the Dow fell more than 1,000 points, or six per cent, before recovering some of those losses.

On Tuesday, the dollar also gained against other currencies and oil prices rose.

"Today is opposite day for the most part," said Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.

"Outside of another massive sell-off in China's Shanghai Composite (-7.6 per cent) and Japan's Nikkei (-4.0 per cent), equity markets around the globe are in rally mode, crude oil prices have popped ... the dollar has regained some swagger, and Treasuries are being sold in a somewhat earnest fashion."