Dollar slips

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TOKYO: The dollar slid broadly on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump struck a protectionist tone in his inauguration speech, undermining optimism over the U.S. economy spurred by his promises of tax cuts and other stimulus.

Japan´s Nikkei dropped 1.1 percent while shares in Australia dropped 0.8 percent after the Trump administration, on its first day in office, declared its intention to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade pact that Japan and Australia also have signed up for.

U.S. stock futures dipped 0.3 percent, erasing gains made on Friday.

European shares were expected to fall, too, with spread-betters looking to a drop of 0.4 percent in Britain´s FTSE and 0.3 percent in Germany´s DAX.

Other Asian shares were more resilient, however, in part due to the dollar´s weakness and a relief that there was no negative surprises, with Trump refraining from labelling China as a currency manipulator for now, an accusation he made while campaigning.

"At least, there was no negative news this weekend, like a border tax or the currency manipulator, even though they could come up in the future," said Yukino Yamada, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.