Safe-haven gold prices rose on Monday as the dollar slid to a fresh 17-year low against Japan's yen, helping the greenback-denominated futures become cheaper to holders of other currencies, while sliding stocks in Asia messed with the investors' risk appetite, pushing them towards safer alternative investments like the precious metal.

Gold futures hut a three-week high at $1,254 an ounce, while last trading at $1,251, up seven dollars on the day, or 0.60%, while silver futures added six cents, or 0.43% to hover around $15.45 an ounce.

The dollar dropped to a fresh 17-month nadir against the revived yen at 107.65, down 0.25% on the day, while the index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of rivals, fell 0.08% to 94.14. The euro inched up 0.06% to move around 1.1408.

Japan's Nikkei suffered losses today as a stronger yen made exports less competitive abroad, with the index falling 0.44%, while Australian shares gave up 0.15%. China's Shanghai index bucked the trend, jumping nearly two percent on hopes of government stimulus.  

Crude prices slipped on profit taking after soaring over six percent in Friday, with Brent down 11 cents, or 0.25% at $41.84 a barrel, while U.S. crude edged down 14 cents, or 0.38% to trade at $39.56 a barrel.

The only noticeable data awaited today is Italia's industrial production in February, expected to have fallen 0.8% m/m, compared to January's 1.9% surge, which would be mildly negative for the common currency.