Major stock markets diverged, the dollar gained and bitcoin extended a record run higher Monday, as traders took their lead from events in the United States and China.Chinese stock markets closed mixed and oil prices slid after China’s latest plans to stimulate its economy fell short of expectations.Europe saw solid gains around midday, tracking events in the United States where president-elect Donald Trump is putting together his cabinet.”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.Stocks rallied last week on hopes that a second 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.However, the mood changed after China 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.Wall Street indices hit fresh record highs Friday, helped also by another cut in US interest rates by the Federal Reserve.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 $82,387.50 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 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 8,135.06 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 1.1 percent at 7,418.18Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.3 percent at 19,465.13Tokyo – 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)New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 43,988.99 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0663 from $1.0724 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2880 from $1.2921Dollar/yen: UP at 153.74 yen from 152.62 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.76 pence from 82.95 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $69.10 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.6 percent at $72.69 per barrel

China’s largest online shopping bonanza wraps up on Monday, with analysts and investors watching for signs that consumption is rebounding in the world’s second-largest economy after recent efforts by Beijing to boost activity.”Singles Day” — launched by tech giant Alibaba in 2009 — has ballooned into an annual blockbuster period for retail, with days of discounts luring customers to the country’s online shopping platforms.Its name is a riff on the four ones in its date of November 11, or “11.11” — the tongue-in-cheek celebration of singlehood is a key driver of sales for Alibaba and its main competitor, JD.com.Neither firm released detailed sales figures on last year’s Singles Day for the second time running, with Alibaba saying only that it recorded growth during the period.Sluggish domestic consumption is among the top issues now facing policymakers in China, which has struggled to achieve a full post-pandemic recovery.Beijing has in recent weeks announced a slew of the most aggressive measures in years aimed at bolstering growth, including key rate cuts and increasing the debt limit for local governments.But many economists argue that in the absence of large-scale fiscal stimulus aimed at encouraging consumer spending, a return to the country’s robust pre-pandemic trajectory may be difficult to attain.This year’s Singles Day could represent a major boon for retail giants as analysts watch for signs that recent measures are having an impact.Analysts from the ING banking group said in a note last week that it expects to see “solid growth numbers” during the event, which it said “should comfortably outpace the overall consumption growth momentum”.At a warehouse visited by AFP on Monday, employees from Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com were seen sorting a steady stream of parcels loaded on conveyor belts.At the end of the line, workers quickly stacked the packages onto trolleys, before transferring them to scooters for delivery to customers. Consumer prices in China rose at a slower rate in October, official data showed Saturday, in a further sign of languid demand.Singles Day 2024 “is expected to generate over 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion)… representing a growth of 15 percent compared to the previous year”, wrote VO2 Asia Pacific, a consultancy specialising in the digital economy.While the promotional campaigns could be effective in driving short-term sales, managing partner Vincent Marion warned that the strategy could have negative repercussions.”Many consumers buy in bulk to reach discount thresholds, only to return the products afterward,” said Marion, warning that the practice “erodes profit margins and damages brand perception”.Alibaba, like its main rival JD.com, withheld sales figures on the Singles Day period for the first time ever in 2022, saying instead that sales were flat from the previous year.

China said Monday it will impose “temporary anti-dumping measures” on brandy imported from the European Union, deepening a trade standoff between Beijing and Brussels after similar measures last month.China announced provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports last month, saying the alleged “dumping” threatened “substantial damage” to the domestic industry.And Beijing’s commerce ministry said in a statement Monday that authorities have “decided to implement temporary anti-dumping measures in the form of a cash deposit or letter of guarantee” against European brandy products.The measures, based on calculations involving prices approved by customs, as well as import taxes, follow a similar announcement made by the ministry on October 8.It was not immediately clear whether these measures — which come into effect on Friday — were new or an extension of existing ones.France — Europe’s leading producer of brandy — had described the measures announced last month as political, designed to put the EU under pressure after it imposed hefty tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles over unfair competition claims.Monday’s “supplementary announcement” did not say when the latest temporary measures are due to expire.China launched an investigation in January into brandy imported from the EU after the bloc undertook a probe into Chinese EV subsidies.The EU decided last month to impose extra tariffs on Chinese-made EVs after an anti-subsidy probe concluded Beijing’s state subsidies were unfairly undercutting European automakers.China imported more brandy than any other spirit in 2022, with most of it coming from France, according to a report by research group Daxue Consulting.French cognac makers have begged Paris to put an end to the spat, describing themselves as “hostages”.France’s foreign trade minister Sophie Primas this month said that Paris was prepared “to take all possible technical and legal measures” in response to the tariffs, following a meeting with a Chinese counterpart.But she also said she believed the window for negotiation with Beijing over tariffs on European brandy was open.A second phase of consultations over the measures between the EU and China over the anti-dumping recently began.As well as the provisional brandy tariffs, Beijing has also launched anti-dumping probes into some European pork and dairy imports.Brussels is also investigating Chinese subsidies for solar panels and wind turbines.