TOKYO: Asian shares were off to a cautious start on Monday as investors pinned their hopes on any signs of a thaw in Sino-U.S. trade negotiations while oil prices firmed on worries over heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
The news came after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Friday decided to call off a planned China speech, which also increased optimism on upcoming trade talks with Beijing. Pence had upset China with a fierce speech in October in which he laid out a litany of complaints ranging from state surveillance to human-rights abuses.
In China, the Global Times newspaper said FedEx Corp is likely to be added to Beijing's 'unreliable entities list'. Tehran said the drone was spying over its territory while Washington said it was downed over international airspace. Also potentially becoming a factor in the equation, Arab politicians and commentators greeted Trump's US$50 billion Middle East economic vision with a mixture of derision and exasperation, although some in the Gulf called for it to be given a chance.