Stocks in Asia were mostly higher on Monday as ongoing tensions between the United States and China continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 regained 1240.82 points, or 0.6%, to 21,821.16.
The positive moves followed trade data that showed the country's exports rising 8.2% in October from a year earlier, reversing the decline seen in September. Still, the October number came below expectations of a 9% rise from economists.
The Japanese yen, widely viewed as a safe-haven currency, was at 112.76 against the U.S. dollar after seeing lows above 114.1 last week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 188.47 points, or 0.7%, to 26,372.
Australian markets faded, with most sectors seeing losses. Energy stocks fell 1.6% while the heavily weighted financial sub-index was down 0.8%
Shares of newspaper publisher Fairfax Media bucked the downward trend to rise 2.4% after the company's chairman, Nick Falloon, said that the proposed merger with television network Nine Entertainment received "overwhelming support from shareholders."
Nine Entertainment shares rose 1.8% on the day.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7313 U.S. after rising from the $0.725 handle last Friday.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 36.93 points, or 1.1%, to 3,294.60
Competition between the U.S. and China over the Pacific was thrown into the spotlight at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Papua New Guinea.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence listed U.S. differences with China, a day after he directly criticized its Belt and Road program, saying countries should not accept debt that compromised their sovereignty.
China's foreign ministry responded by saying no developing country would fall into a debt trap simply because of its cooperation with Beijing.
The developments come ahead of an expected meeting between U.S President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the upcoming G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index moved higher 31.6 points, or 0.3%, to 9,828.69
In Korea, the Kospi index gained 8.16 points, or 0.4%, at 2,100.56
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index tailed off 18.53 points, or 0.6%, to 3,065.07
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 16.77points, or 0.2%, to 8,792.93
In Australia, the ASX 200 slipped 36.98 points, or 0.6%, to 5,693.66
