Stock market today: World shares mostly gain after Trump picks billionaire for Treasury post

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares climbed in Europe and Asia on Monday, tracking last week’s gains on Wall Street, and analysts said investors were viewing President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of billionaire investor Scott Bessent as his nominee for Treasury secretary as a relatively market-friendly choice.

Bitcoin fell slightly and oil prices also declined, while U.S. futures advanced.

Germany's DAX surged 0.7% to 19,461.11 and the CAC 40 in Paris jumped 0.9% to 7,322.70. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,291.83.

The future for the S&P 500 was 0.4% higher while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%.

In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.3% to 38,780.14 while the Kospi in Seoul rose 1.3% to 2,534.34. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.3% to 8,417.60.

In China, shares fell further, with the Shanghai Composite index edging 0.1% lower, to 3,263.76 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong falling 0.4% to 19,150.99.

China’s central bank kept the interest rate on the one-year medium-term lending facility unchanged at 2%.

Shares in technology companies saw big declines, with online shopping platform Meituan falling 4% while multimedia and video games company Tencent dropped 1.5%.

India's Sensex gained 1.1% as hundreds of supporters of the main opposition party protested against billionaire Gautam Adani, who was recently indicted in the U.S. for alleged fraud and bribery. Activists are demanding the arrests of Adani and oher associates named in the case. The Adani group has denied wrongdoing. Shares in Adani Enterprises gained 4.1%.

Taiwan's Taiex added 0.2%. In Bangkok, the SET lost 0.2%.

This week will bring an update on consumer sentiment from the business group The Conference Board on Tuesday and key inflation data with the release Wednesday of the personal consumption expenditures index for October. The PCE is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and this will be the last PCE reading prior to a meeting of the Federal Reserve next month.

On Friday, stocks closed higher on Wall Street as the market posted its fifth straight gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched another record high, gaining 1% to close at 44,296.51.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, to 5,969.34 while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% to 19,003.65. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.8%.

Markets have swung widely since the U.S. elections in November, and Trump's choices to head Treasury and other key positions that influence economic and financial policies were among the factors overhanging investor sentiment.

Bessent, 62, is a hedge fund manager considered to be closely aligned with Wall Street. He is the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary.

The proposed choice was interpreted “as a sign that President-elect Trump might adopt a more measured approach to tariffs and fiscal policy. Bessent’s influence is expected to bring nuanced economic strategies to the forefront, potentially easing concerns over abrupt policy shifts,” Stephen Innex of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Investors are watching for signs of some moderation in Trump's stance toward tariffs and other policies that might affect business both at home and overseas.

But he said attention this week would likely focus more on the inflation data and what they might mean for interest rates, as the Fed holds its next policy meeting.

A majority of stocks in the S&P 500 gained ground, but those gains were kept in check by slumps for several big technology companies.

In the crypto market, bitcoin hovered around $98,000, according to CoinDesk. It has more than doubled this year and first surpassed the $99,000 level on Thursday.

In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 65 cents to $70.59 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 65 cents to $73.98 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 154.59 Japanese yen from 154.31 yen. The euro fell to $1.0460 from $1.0475.

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

A currency trader talks on the phone near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Currency traders work near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A currency trader talks on the phone near the screen showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A currency trader walks near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — More than 30 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach in New Zealand were safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets. Four of the pilot whales died, New Zealand’s conservation agency said.

New Zealand is a whale stranding hotspot and pilot whales are especially prolific stranders.

A team was monitoring Ruakākā Beach near the city of Whangārei in New Zealand’s north on Monday to ensure there were no signs of the whales saved Sunday stranding again, the Department of Conservation told The Associated Press. The agency praised as “incredible” the efforts made by hundreds of people to help save the foundering pod.

“It’s amazing to witness the genuine care and compassion people have shown toward these magnificent animals,” Joel Lauterbach, a Department of Conservation spokesperson, said in a statement. “This response demonstrates the deep connection we all share with our marine environment.”

A Māori cultural ceremony for the three adult whales and one calf that died in the stranding took place on Monday. New Zealand’s Indigenous people consider whales a taonga — a sacred treasure — of cultural significance.

New Zealand has recorded more than 5,000 whale strandings since 1840. The largest pilot whale stranding was of an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the Department of Conservation.

It's often not clear why strandings happen but the island nation's geography is believed to be a factor. Both the North and South Islands feature stretches of protruding coastline with shallow, sloping beaches that can confuse species such as pilot whales — which rely on echolocation to navigate.

Rescuers stand in the water as they help refloat stranded pilot whales on Ruakākā Beach in northland, New Zealand, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (Nikki Hartley/New Zealand Department Of Conservation via AP)

Rescuers stand in the water as they help refloat stranded pilot whales on Ruakākā Beach in northland, New Zealand, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (Nikki Hartley/New Zealand Department Of Conservation via AP)

Rescuers rope off an area around a dead pilot whale that was stranded on Ruakākā Beach in northland, New Zealand, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (Nikki Hartley/New Zealand Department Of Conservation via AP)