The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as much as 0.7%, or 300 points, the S&P 500 climbed as much as 0.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq bounced as much as 1.2% and the small-cap Russell 2000 surged 1.6% shortly after market open, though gains were trimmed by late morning trading.

"On the face of this the Fed should be hiking rates with these sorts of figures, not cutting rates," Economist James Knightley said.