Investors who were hoping for a strong first showing after a scary 2011 can breathe easier this morning. The Dow Jones Industrials Average (INDEX: ^DJI) doesn't seem to be suffering from a New Year's hangover today, as the index rocketed up over 2% in early-morning trading. The other major indexes were also up big for the morning.

The big positives today have Asian roots, as solid economic news has overshadowed concerns about the European debt crisis. Surveys indicating that India's and China's growth may be picking up speed have investors giddy. The news sent 29 of the 30 Dow components higher in the morning, with an amazing five companies clocking gains larger than 4%. The biggest early-morning winners are listed below:

Company

Return

Alcoa 4.1%
Bank of America 5.5%
Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) 4.8%
Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) 4.5%
JPMorgan Chase 4.5%

Cisco shares got a shot of adrenaline this morning as JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall raised his rating on the company to overweight from neutral. Mr. Hall believes that 2011 was a "perfect storm of multiple small issues" and that the gross margin retraction of 2011 is unlikely to repeat in 2012.

Caterpillar seems to have shaken off their worker injury fine as investors are focusing instead on their impressive 10% forecasted 2012 growth in China's construction equipment market. Group President Richard Lavin also stated he believes the Chinese yuan will continue to strengthen against the dollar and other currencies.

The larger positive news out of China seems supported by the recently reported 42% gambling revenue growth from Macau for 2011, the only region in China where gambling is legal. Macau heavyweights Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) and Melco Crown Entertainment (Nasdaq: MPEL) are both understandably trading higher on the news. Melco Crown's valuable location in the center of Cotai and Las Vegas' planned opening of the Sands Cotai Central place them as top dogs in the region. Macau continues to defy traditional growth figures and may indicate a stronger Chinese consumer than recent reports have indicated.

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