The dollar and major stock indexes slipped on Monday, after US President Donald Trump used his inaugural address on Friday to underscore his protectionist agenda, unnerving some investors who had hoped for a more conciliatory tone.

In Asia, the Nikkei stock index ended the trading session more than 1 per cent lower and shares across Europe largely fell too. The FTSE 100 ended the day down around 0.7 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.

The US dollar, which had been sent on a wild ride in the lead-up to the inauguration, fell against a slew of currencies, closing in on a seven-week low hit against Japan’s yen on Wednesday last week. The euro and the pound were up around 0.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent against the dollar on Monday evening in London respectively.

“Our take on Mr Donald Trump’s inauguration address on Friday is that it appeared combative, protectionist and divisive in many respects,” economists at UniCredit wrote in a research note. “Consequently, we think that the downward trend in the [dollar] that has recently emerged is likely to extend further.”

In Friday’s address Mr Trump stressed his ambition to put "America first", and highlighted his two rules of “buy American and hire American”.

Currency strategists at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note that Mr Trump's inauguration speech "was a repeat of election pledges but failed to reach out to local political opponents and international partners". It's that, they said, that is causing the dollar to weaken.

On Sunday, the new President also said that he plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"The market is getting nervous about the possibility that the world's trade might shrink," Reuters quoted Koichi Yoshikawa, executive director of financial markets at Standard Chartered Bank in Tokyo, as saying.

In the aftermath of Mr Trump’s November election victory, stock markets -- especially in the US -- surged, spurred by the New York businessman’s campaign promises of tax and regulatory roll backs and higher infrastructure spending.

Trump Inauguration protests around the World Show all 14 1 /14 Trump Inauguration protests around the World Trump Inauguration protests around the World Activists from Greenpeace display a message reading "Mr President, walls divide. Build Bridges!" along the Berlin wall in Berlin on January 20, 2017 to coincide with the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United State Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World An activist holds up a sign at the "We Stand United" rally on the eve of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration outside Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York on January 19, 2017 in New York Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Protesters burn a U.S. flag and a mock flag with pictures of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump outside the U.S. embassy in metro Manila, Philippines Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Filipino protestors hold placcards during a protest rally in front of the US embassy in Manila, Philippines, 20 January 2017. On the eve of President-elect Donald Trump's inaguration as the 45th president of the United States, Filipinos and Fil-Americans held a protest in front of the US embassy in Manila to denounce the incoming US president. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Hong Kong police officers and security guards look on as an anarchist protester belonging to the Disrupt J20 movement sits after using a heavy duty D-lock and motorcycle lock to chain himself to a railing at the entrance gate to the Consulate General of the United States of America in Hong Kong to protest the inauguration of United States President-elect Donald Trump, Hong Kong, China, 20 January 2017. Two activists were arrested and taken away by Hong Kong police during the demonstration. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A banner is unfurled on London's Tower Bridge, organised by Bridges Not Walls - a partnership between grassroots activists and campaigners working on a range of issues, formed in the wake of Donald Trump's election, which aims to build bridges to a world free from hatred and oppression. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Protesters chain themselves to an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Bridges Not Walls banner dropped from Molenbeek bridge in Brussels, Belgium, 20 January 2017, in an Greenpeace action part of protests Wolrd protest in solidarity with people in the US, the day Donald Trump sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A woman holds an anti-U.S. President-elect Donald Trump placard during a rally in Tokyo, Japan, Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A Palestinian protester holds a placard during a demonstration against the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and against US President-elect Donald Trump, on January 20, 2017, near the settlement of Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Banners on North Bridge in Edinburgh as part of the Bridges Not Walls protest against US President Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Russian artist Vasily Slonov (L) and his assistant carry a life-sized cutout, which is an artwork created by Slonov and titled "Siberian Inauguration", before its presentation on the occasion of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, in a street in Krasnoyarsk, Russia Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A woman holds a banner during a march to thank outgoing President Barack Obama and reject US President-elect Donald Trump before his inauguration at a park in Tokyo, Japan, 20 January 2017. EPA Trump Inauguration protests around the World Palestinian demonstrators protesting this week against a promise by Donald Trump to re-locate the US embassy to Jerusalem Reuters