Asian stocks off; euro falls after German election

A state German election rout for the ruling conservative party sent the euro lower on Monday, while Asian shares slipped on persistent anxiety over the tension in the Middle East and in Japan after the destructive quake and tsunami two weeks ago.

Those geopolitical concerns supported bids for oil and safe haven gold.

"Clearly risks are rising, but not sufficient to tip the euro over the edge yet. There's also a range of support on the way down, it's not going to collapse even if it falls through USD 1.40," said Greg Gibbs, a strategist at RBS.

Prospects of a rate hike, he said, were an important element holding up the currency.

The euro last traded at USD 1.4046, compared with USD 1.4065 late in New York on Friday. Early in the session, it was marked down to around USD 1.4020.

Japan's Nikkei was down 0.4%, while MSCI's index of Asian shares outside Japan slipped 0.2%.

US crude was little changed at USD 105.42 a barrel and Brent crude notched up 18 cents to USD 115.77.

Spot gold slipped to 146.50 an ounce, below a record high of USD 1447.40 reached on March 24.