Asian shares, US$ wobble in early trade Moday

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was slightly lower in early trade Monday. Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.2 percent, after it marked its highest closing level since 2007 on Friday, and gained 2.3 percent for the week.

TOKYO: Asian shares got off on the back foot on Monday after an uninspiring session on Wall Street, while the dollar gave back a little of its recent solid gains in early trading.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was slightly lower. Japan's Nikkei stock average <.N225> slipped 0.2 percent, after it marked its highest closing level since 2007 on Friday, and gained 2.3 percent for the week.

Alibaba Group , in one of the biggest IPOs ever, ended up 38 percent at $93.89 on massive volume on Friday. Because the Chinese online retailer's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is not an S&P 500 component, its gains were not reflected in major indexes and it did little to help an otherwise lackluster day on Wall Street.

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 leading nations met in the Australian city of Cairns over the weekend and said they were close to adding an extra $2 trillion to the global economy and creating millions of new jobs, but Europe's extended stagnation remains a major stumbling block.

The dollar edged down against a basket of major currencies to 84.701 <.DXY> after the index posted its 10th consecutive week of gains on expectations that U.S. interest rates would rise more quickly than had been expected.

The Federal Reserve should start raising U.S. interest rates in the spring, earlier than many investors currently expect, and should do so both slowly and gradually, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said in an interview on Fox Business Network on Friday.

But the outlook for U.S. monetary policy remains murky. The Fed issued a policy statement at the close of last week's two-day meeting that suggested the first rate hike wasn't due until around the middle of next year.

The greenback eased about 0.1 percent against its Japanese counterpart to 108.93 yen , moving away from a six-year high of 109.46 yen scaled on Friday.

The euro edged up 0.1 percent on the day to $1.2843, after earlier drifting down to touch a fresh 14-month low against the dollar of $1.2826.

"Neither the euro nor the yen have been able to sustain even modest upticks. Despite extended positioning, the bears do not appear to have had their fill," Marc Chandler, chief currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York, said in a note to clients. 

Sterling added 0.2 percent to $1.6318 after it soared on Friday following Scotland's vote to reject independence.

Spot gold steadied at $1,216.20 an ounce after dropping as low as $1,213.61 on Friday, which was its lowest since Jan. 2. For the week, gold posted a 1 percent drop for its third consecutive weekly fall.

Brent crude dropped 0.3 percent to $98.06 a barrel.- Reuters