By Wayne Cole and Amanda Cooper

Photographers take photos of the stock closing price and forex exchange rates on a board during a ceremony marking the end of trading in 2024 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo, Japan December 30, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

SYDNEY/LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Global stocks edged up on Monday ahead of a week crammed with U.S. economic data that will be pivotal in setting expectations for interest rates, although heightened political uncertainty kept any new-year enthusiasm in check.

In China, the yuan hit a 16-month low and blue-chip stocks traded at their weakest since late September, prompting the country's stock exchanges and central bank to defend its falling markets and soothe investor concern about the impact on the world's second biggest economy of Donald Trump's imminent return to the White House.

Story continues on Reuters

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