HONG KONG (AP) — European markets powered higher Monday, catching up with last week’s Wall Street rally. Bitcoin soared over $82,000 for the first time but Asian stocks fell as China’s stimulus package disappointed investor expectations.
Germany’s DAX gained 1.2% to 19,438.89. In Paris, the CAC 40 added 1.1% to 7,421.24. Britain’s FTSE 100 also rose 0.7%, to 8,128.58.
U.S. shares were poised to open higher, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.3% and those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%.
Bitcoin hit a fresh record, rising to $82,022.98 in early trading, according to Coindesk. The most popular digital token has been extending a rally that began after the reelection of former President Donald Trump, who has embraced cryptocurrencies and pledged to make the United States the world crypto capital.
In Asia, China approved a 6 trillion yuan ($839 billion) plan during a meeting of its national legislature Friday. The long-anticipated stimulus is designed to help local governments refinance their mountains of debt in the latest push to rev up growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
“It’s not exactly the growth rocket many had hoped for. While it’s a substantial number, the stimulus is less about jump-starting economic growth and more about plugging holes in a struggling local government system,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Meanwhile, China’s inflation rate in October rose 0.3% year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday, marking a slowdown from September’s 0.4% increase and dropping to its lowest level in four months.
The Hang Seng fell 1.5% to 20,426.93, and the Shanghai Composite picked up from the losses in morning trading and ended 0.5% higher to 3,470.07.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 hovered between gains and losses and closed less than 0.1% higher at 39,533.32. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.4% to 8,266.20. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.2% to 2,531.66.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 5,995.54, its biggest weekly gain since early November 2023 and briefly crossed above the 6,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6% to 43,988.99, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.1% to 19,286.78.
In the bond market, longer-term Treasury yields eased.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.30% Friday from 4.33% late Thursday. But it’s still well above where it was in mid-September, when it was close to 3.60%.
Treasury yields climbed in large part because the U.S. economy has remained much more resilient than feared. The hope is that it can continue to stay solid as the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates in order to keep the job market humming, now that it’s helped get inflation nearly down to its 2% target.
