What you need2know

SPI futures up 57 points or 1.1% to 5101

AUD at 73.50 US cents, 75.83 Japanese yen, 66.63 Euro cents and 55.35 British pence

On Wall St, Dow +1%, S&P 500 +1%, Nasdaq +1.6%

In New York, BHP +3.8%, Rio +3.4%, Atlassian +1.5%

In Europe, Stoxx 50 +2.3%, FTSE +2.6%, CAC +2.6%, DAX +1.9%

Spot gold -0.7% to $US1315.22 an ounce

Brent crude +2.8% to $US48.49 a barrel

Iron ore -0.4% to $US53.65 per tonne

What's on today

Housing Industry Association new home sales for May

Currencies

The pound strengthened by 0.9 per cent to $US1.3347, supported by technical indicators that suggested the record two-day loss since Thursday's vote was excessive. The move comes even after the UK was stripped of its top credit grade by S&P Global Ratings. Fitch Ratings also lowered the country's rank.

Commodities

The Bloomberg Commodity Index gained 1.8 per cent. Crude oil climbed 2.9 per cent to $US47.69 a barrel in New York, while copper and nickel were up more than 2 per cent in London.

Gold slipped 0.7 per cent to $US1315.55 an ounce on speculation that recent gains have been overextended. In the previous two days, prices jumped 5.4 per cent, the most since 2009.

United States

The S&P 500 gained 1 per cent at 2.23pm in New York, rebounding from its lowest level since March. Citigroup and Bank of America advanced at least 2.3 per cent, with lenders recovering from the worst two days in almost five years.

Aside from the Brexit drama, a report today showed the US economy expanded more than previously projected in the first quarter. Consumer confidence increased in June for the first time in three months, according to a report from the New York-based Conference Board Tuesday.

Europe

European stocks advanced, snapping their worst two-day losing streak since 2008, as investors speculated that policy makers may take action to shore up markets after the post-Brexit rout.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 2.6 per cent to 316.7 at the close of trading. European stocks extended their two-day loss to 11 per cent on Monday amid growing uncertainty surrounding the fallout from Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union. The FTSE 100, which lost 5.6 per cent over the same period, also recovered 2.6 per cent on Tuesday. The volume of European shares changing hands was 60 per cent greater than the 30-day average, while for British equities, it was 74 per cent higher.

What happened yesterday

The Australian sharemarket ended the session lower despite staging a late recovery as signs emerged that the negative sentiment enveloping global markets may be coming to an end.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index headed towards the psychological level of 5000 points early, dipping as low as 5053 points on Tuesday morning, before ending 0.7 per cent or 34 points lower at 5103.3. The All Ordinaries closed 0.7 per cent or 37 points lower at 5179.6.