Asian stocks fell from near seven-week highs on Monday after weak U.S. consumer confidence data overshadowed strong retail numbers and curbed demand for risky assets, keeping the price of oil below $81.
Investors were disappointed that Friday's upbeat February retail sales report, which showed spending rose in spite of bad weather, failed to help U.S. stocks to rise, leading the market to focus instead on souring consumer mood.
The cautious tone was echoed on Sunday when Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said there was a chance the world economy may slip back into recession, resulting in a double-dip recession.
That was enough to lead stock investors to play it safe. Japan's Nikkei gave up earlier gains to slip 0.2 percent from seven-week highs. MSCI's index of Asian shares outside Japan fell nearly 1 percent.
"The outlook in the stock market is cloudy," said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. "U.S. consumer confidence is still weak and it does not bode well for Asian exporters."
Monday's move away from risky trades kept with a broader trend in the market this year, which has showed investors favouring safety over risk.
The U.S. dollar and yen, the typical haven bets, are up 2.7 percent and 2.6 percent respectively since January. Like-wise, gold, another favourite safety play, is up 1.1 percent. In contrast, the Asian ex-Japan MSCI stock index is down 0.7 percent for the year.
Monday's sombre mood kept oil prices pressured at $80.84 as investors worried about oil demand in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer.
Languid risk appetite weighed on high-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar, and the embattled euro. The Australian dollar was down at $0.9140, well off the day's high of $.9209.
The common currency, still beset by Greece's fiscal crisis, languished at $1.3743. There are few signs that the selling pressure would abate soon with the latest data showing bets against the euro were at a record.
Euro zone ministers meet on Monday to discuss ways to assist Greece should it be unable to finance its debt, but no concrete proposals were expected.
The yen managed to bounce off three-week lows against the U.S. dollar, but should stay on the defensive on expectations the Bank of Japan may further ease ultra-loose monetary policy this week to weaken the yen and boost exports.
