LONDON (Oct 21): Global stocks kicked off the week on a tepid note on Monday, after strong gains last week, while increasing bets on Donald Trump winning the looming US presidential election helped send bitcoin and gold to new peaks.

Heightened uncertainty over conflict in the Middle East added to the appeal of gold, which hit new record highs around of US$2,733 (RM11,758) an ounce.

Europe's benchmark STOXX 600 was largely flat ahead of results later in the day from German heavyweight SAP, which could set the tone for a busy earnings week on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Earnings will be very important in giving direction to stocks — whether or not current US valuations can be justified," said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets in London.

Wall Street futures, pointed to a mixed open after the S&P 500 notched a record closing high and rounded up its sixth straight week of gains on Friday.

Meanwhile, optimism over Beijing's slew of stimulus measures first announced late in September has turned into caution in recent days as investors look to further details of more fiscal support from policymakers.

Although China cut its benchmark lending rates on Monday, the move was anticipated. China's blue-chip index rose just 0.2% as investors awaited further details on Chinese stimulus.

"We might have to wait until late October or early November for concrete plans from the Standing Committee meeting of the National People's Congress," said Chaoping Zhu, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management in Shanghai.

With two weeks to go before the Nov 5 US election, bets reflecting a Donald Trump victory are on the rise.

The Republican candidate's tariff, tax and immigration policies are seen as inflationary, negative for bonds and positive for the dollar. Trump is expected to take a more favourable stance towards cryptocurrencies.

"(It) seems now that Trump's ahead in the key battleground states, which suggests he's quite well placed to regain the White House and I think the markets started to factor that in last week with the stronger equities, higher yields, US dollar obviously doing very, very well and bitcoin on track for a 10% gain over the past week," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.

Bitcoin hit its highest since late July at US$69,487 before retreating slightly. The world's largest cryptocurrency gained 9.6% last week, and is up more than 8% for the month.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of peers, was last up 0.16% at 103.61 — not far more than two-month highs hit last week.

Sterling and the euro were down about 0.2% each against the dollar, while the US currency traded 0.25% firmer at ¥149.91.

In bond markets, the benchmark 10-year US treasury yield rose 3.4 basis points to 4.10%, while the two-year yield increased 2.5 bps to 3.98%.

Oil prices edged higher following a more than 7% drop last week on worries about demand in China and an easing of concerns about potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures were up 1% at US$73.76 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 1.17% to US$70.74 a barrel.

Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja