Investors traded in what many saw as a countdown to an Iraq war today to send Japanese shares to a 20-year low and push up the price of oil amid scurrying into safe-haven assets such as gold and bonds.
The dollar clung to near four-year lows against the euro, and European shares added further losses to the six-year lows hit on Friday.
The Iraq gloom sent Japan's Nikkei average down for a fifth straight session to a new two-decade low. It ended down 1.25 per cent at 8,042.26 after falling as low as 7,975.36, below the key 8,000 level for the first time since March 1983.
In Europe, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index was down 0.75 per cent. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 0.83 per cent.
Investors jumped into the relative safety of European government bonds. Two-year bond yields hit fresh record lows and bond futures new contract highs.
Gold, a traditional port in times of trouble, was quoted at $353.00/4.00 an ounce, up from $350.20/351.10 at New York's close on Friday.
The dollar was down a quarter percent from late Friday's levels at $1.1035 per euro, not far above a four-year low set after a shock increase US jobless figures last week.
On the oil market, London Brent crude oil futures opened higher. April Brent crude oil was up 40 cents at $34.50 a barrel.