The dollar and Asian stocks weakened today as a US-led war with Iraq seemed to draw closer after President George W. Bush said "crucial hours may lie ahead" for US troops in the Gulf.
Oil and gold prices held to overnight gains after President Bush said Secretary of State Colin Powell would deliver new intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to the UN Security Council next week to help convince the world of Iraq's danger.
Tokyo stocks fell to an 11-week low and South Korean shares plunged three per cent to their lowest close in almost 15 months. Singapore hit levels unseen since September 2001.
European stocks are expected to open lower, while after-hours trading pointed to a weaker start on Wall Street. Dow Jones Industrial Average March futures were off 0.72 per cent.
Last night, the Dow rose 1.24 per cent to 8,088.84. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 1.31 per cent to 858.54 and the tech-loaded Nasdaq gained 1.28 per cent to 1,342.18.
US equities have slid nine per cent in the last two weeks and the dollar is down about 10 per cent against the euro in the past two months.
Crude oil futures rose after Bush's speech, with front-month March light crude up 13 cents at $32.80 a barrel at 0630 GMT, but traders said his remarks had already been priced into the market.
Safe-haven gold was trading around $368.75 an ounce from $369.20 in New York. It is up around seven per cent so far this year, hitting six-year highs, after racking up 25 per cent in 2002.