Global stock markets rebounded slightly Wednesday, though investors remained cautious amid lasting concerns over China's economy.

In early trade, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7% having ended Tuesday 2.7% lower. Most Asian markets slumped in early trade, though some recovered later in the session and the Shanghai Composite Index ended just 0.2% lower as mainland brokerages were suspected of plowing cash into the market, at Beijing's direction.

Analysts said that authorities in China may have wanted to cheer up domestic investors ahead of a two-day celebration in the capital commemorating the end of World War II. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was recently 1% lower, while Japan's Nikkei ended the day down 0.4%.

Global markets have swung wildly since China moved to devalue the yuan in mid-August. Commodities and stocks indexes around the world suffered some of their worst monthly falls in years during August, and so far September has offered only limited relief. On Tuesday, weak manufacturing data out of China dealt a further blow to investor confidence.

"All those who stuck to the adage "Sell in May and go away" must have come back and started to sell again straight away," Michael Every, head of financial markets research for the Asia-Pacific region at Rabobank, wrote in a note to clients.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 469.68 points, or 2.8%, to 16058.35, its biggest one-day percentage loss since Aug. 24 when the blue-chip index plummeted nearly 600 points, or 3.6%.

Futures contracts pointed to a 0.7% opening gain for the Dow Wednesday. Futures, however, don't always accurately reflect moves after the opening bell.

Oil prices continued to slip with Brent crude recently trading 2% lower at $48.59. On Tuesday, Brent slumped $4.59, or 8.5%, to $49.56 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, notching the largest one-day percentage decline since May 2011. The oil market is more volatile than it has been in years.

The euro was recently around 0.3% lower against the U.S. dollar at $1.1261. The dollar was 0.4% higher against Japan's yen at ¥ 120.00.

Later in the session investors will be focusing their attention on the U.S. Private payrolls report, compiled by payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and forecasting firm Moody's Analytics, which could provide an indication of how strong Friday's nonfarm payroll reading might be.

The recent market turmoil has led some analysts to push back their expectations for when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to raise rates from rock-bottom levels. Strong data, however, could support the case for a sooner move, some say.

"Our view overall is that the global financial system is so fragile and the global economy so lethargic […] that it near forces central banks into a continuation of easy monetary conditions" which includes keeping interest rates low, Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a note to clients.

He added, however, that the situation is still highly uncertain.

-- Chao Deng in Hong Kong contributed to this article

Write to Josie Cox at josie.cox@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 02, 2015 04:35 ET (08:35 GMT)