The China Mail - Stocks and dollar climb, bitcoin hits record high

Chinese stock markets closed mixed and oil prices slid after China's latest plans to stimulate its economy fell short of expectations.

Wall Street's three main indices pushed into record territory at the opening bell.

"Last week's huge post-election rally hasn't run out of gas yet," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Stocks rallied last week on hopes that a second Donald Trump administration -- supported by a Republican Congress -- would push through a slew of business-friendly policies including deregulation and tax cuts, offsetting concerns about possible trade wars.

O'Hare said there were no new developments fuelling the rise.

"In effect, it is a carryover of the 'old' news of the election outcome powering an ongoing momentum trade and a fear of missing out on further gains," he said.

Another cut in US interest rates by the Federal Reserve also helped fuel the record run last week.

While Fed officials declined to provide further guidance until updated projections are ready for its December meeting, the market still largely expects it to cut rates again then.

"If more rate cuts from the Fed continue to be what is expected, then we could see further positive sentiment in US stocks," said Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

European stocks saw solid gains in afternoon trading.

"European markets are enjoying an upbeat start to the week, with the uncertainty around trade relations with the US seemingly being put on the backburner," said Joshua Mahony, analyst at traders Scope Markets.

The mood was less upbeat in China after Beijing said Friday it would ramp up a local debt ceiling, but fell short of announcing any new growth-boosting measures.

Hopes had been building all last week that officials would deploy a "bazooka" stimulus, the need for which was highlighted Sunday by data showing Chinese inflation slowed last month and came in below forecasts.

Authorities in late September began unveiling a raft of policies aimed at reigniting the economy, which has failed to fire since the lifting of tough Covid-fighting rules at the end of 2022.

Among them were interest-rate cuts and an easing of home-buying measures as leaders try to address a crisis in China's vast property sector.

Observers said there were concerns about the impact of Trump's planned tariffs, which he said would have a particular focus on China, fuelling talk of another trade war between the economic superpowers.

Pepperstone Group's head of research Chris Weston said Beijing may have had an eye on this in its pre-weekend announcement.

"Many feel that China is keeping its tactical powder in play for such time as the Trump-China tariff negotiations build, and they can respond in a more targeted fashion to stem the likely economic fallout," he noted.

Weston added that there were downside risks to Chinese stock markets and yuan in the short term.

Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $82,663.12 Monday on optimism that Trump would ease regulations surrounding the cryptocurrency.

"We shouldn't expect this bullish trend to be interrupted for a long time -- about a year," Stephane Ifrah, of French crypto asset management company Coinhouse, told AFP.

"The next level for me is $100,000."

- Key figures around 1430 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 44,246.07 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 6,016.35

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 19,364.12

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 8,132.82

Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.2 percent at 7,424.16

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.4 percent at 19,483.42

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 39,533.32 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 20,426.93 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,470.07 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0658 from $1.0724 on Friday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2877 from $1.2921

Dollar/yen: UP at 153.68 yen from 152.62 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.78 pence from 82.95 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.7 percent at $68.48 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.5 percent at $72.03 per barrel

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