Australian shares inched up on Monday's close, tracking Wall Street's gains on the selection of fund manager Scott Bessent as the next U.S. Treasury Secretary.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3%, or 23.8 points to close at 8,417.6.

Bessent's selection came as a relief to Wall Street investors, who expect the Treasury Secretary to advocate for a gradual layering of tariffs, Reuters reported.

Markets in China were weighed down by massive tariff threats and a disappointing stimulus plan from Beijing, Reuters added.

On the domestic front, Australia's monthly consumer price index is forecast to edge up 0.2 percentage points to an annual rate of 2.3% in October, ANZ Research said.

In corporate news, Novonix (ASX:NVX) entered a binding offtake agreement with Volkswagen Unit PowerCo to supply 32,000 tonnes of synthetic graphite over five years, starting in 2027. Novonix's shares surged past 30% at market close.

SG Fleet Group (ASX:SGF) confirmed that it is in exclusive talks with Pacific Equity Partners in relation to the latter's non-binding and indicative takeover proposal for the company. The fleet management and vehicle leasing company's shares soared 18% at market close.

Cuscal Limited (ASX:CCL) started trading on the Australian Securities Exchange after raising AU$336.8 million. The payments and regulated data services provider's shares fell almost 8% at market close.