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Gold hit a five-month high on Monday as the dollar weakened with investors taking refuge in safe-haven assets in the wake of rising geopolitical tensions over North Korea.Spot gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,291 per ounce as of 0239 GMT, after hitting its highest since early November at $1,295.42.
Shares dipped on Monday while U.S. bond yields slumped to five-month lows after soft U.S. economic data hurt investor sentiment already frayed by worries over North Korea and coming French elections.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.1 percent in holiday-thinned trade, while Japan's Nikkei fell as much as 0.6 pct to hit a five-month low. It last stood down 0.1 pct.
Saudi Arabia's two largest listed banks were the main drag on the index on Sunday on news that U.S. insurers have filed a lawsuit against the lenders over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, while real estate shares and troubled Dana Gas weighed on Abu Dhabi.
Crude oil fell in quiet trading on Monday, after the three-day Easter break, on signs the United States is continuing to add output, undermining OPEC efforts to support prices, and as the market digested North Korea's failed missile launch on Sunday.
In the latest news, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will chair a cabinet meeting at his presidential palace in Ankara on Monday, broadcaster CNN Turk said on Sunday, after Turks voted in favour of constitutional changes that will grant him sweeping powers.Erdogan on Sunday declared victory in the referendum, the biggest political overhaul in Turkey's modern history, but opponents said the vote was marred by irregularities and they would challenge its result.
Japan is committed to the G20 agreement on foreign-exchange policy and is not manipulating its currency, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the country's top government spokesman, said on Monday.The U.S. Treasury issued its semiannual currency report on Friday and Japan was one of the U.S. trading partners who were on a currency "monitoring list".
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