Global stocks mostly fall, bitcoin soars to new peak

NEW YORK — Global shares mostly retreated Monday as markets awaited a Federal Reserve interest rate decision while concerns over political battles in Europe and China's struggling economy pressured equities.

The Nasdaq was the day's outperformer, surging more than one per cent to a fresh all-time high behind big gains for Broadcom, Google-parent Alphabet and other tech names.

But the Dow fell, along with bourses in Europe and Asia as traders fretted over political instability in France and Germany.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, hit a new record high, reaching $107,115.89 as it continues to gain support from Donald Trump's backing of cryptocurrencies.

Investors are turning their attention to Wednesday's US Federal Reserve decision on borrowing costs at its last policy meeting of the year before Trump takes office next month.

The Fed is widely expected to cut its key lending rate for a third straight time, reducing it by a quarter point despite a recent uptick in inflation.

But there are fears it will have to slow its pace of easing next year owing to sticky inflation and bets that Trump's tax cuts and tariffs will reignite price increases.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB, said that there would be "an elephant in the room" at the Fed meeting.

"How to accurately forecast economic activity and inflation rates, when the President-elect's policies are expected to have a huge economic impact and could trigger more inflation?" she wrote.

China and Europe worries 

Investors also tracked data showing that Chinese retail sales grew 3.0 per cent last month, much slower than in October and well off the five per cent forecast.

Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets closed lower after the data release while oil prices fell slightly on concerns over Chinese demand.

Chinese officials have unveiled a string of aggressive measures in recent months aimed at bolstering growth in the world's second-biggest economy.

In Europe, the Paris stock market fell 0.7 per cent after Moody's downgraded France's credit rating Saturday following months of political crisis and the appointment of centrist Francois Bayrou as prime minister.

"The market is likely to watch closely to see how the political problems in France affect sentiment in the German economy," said Jochen Stanzl, an analyst at CMC Markets.

Frankfurt slid 0.5 per cent as Germany's embattled center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, triggering elections set for February 23.

The European Central Bank cut rates again last week as inflation appears to come under control and the eurozone economy shows signs of weakness.

ECB chief Christine Lagarde said Monday that the bank would keep lowering interest rates, while warning that higher US tariffs under Trump could hit growth in the bloc.

A closely watched survey released Monday showed that business activity declined further in the eurozone in December, though less sharply than the previous month thanks to an upturn in the services sector.