Asia shares start Dec on cautious note, oil nurses losses

Asian sharemarkets started the last month of the year on a cautious note after recent strong gains, though growing expectations Europe and the U.S. are poised to cut rates should help ease pressure on local currencies and central banks. Global oil prices extended losses after a drop of more than 2% overnight as voluntary oil output cuts by OPEC+ producers for the first quarter next year fell short of market expectations. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5% after a surge of 7.3% last month, the most since January.