03.03.201406:26:52UTC+00Asian stocks pressed; yen, Swiss franc climb on Ukraine anxiety

Hyping political tensions in Ukraine pressured Asian shares on Monday, driving troubled investors to trim down their exposure to speculative assets in favor of conventional safe haven currencies such as Japanese yen and Swiss franc.

Ukraine marshaled for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to insulate Russia economically, as President Vladimir Putin asserted he had the right to raid his neighbor, in the largest confrontation between Russia and the West since Cold War.

Russian forces have already nailed Crimea bloodlessly, a detached Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has a naval base. The tensions emerged at a cautious time for markets, struck by signs of sluggish growth in China, the tapering of the US Federal Reserve's stimulus and fret in emerging market assets.

Australian stocks dived 0.2%, and MSCI's widest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan went down by the same margin. US stock futures dropped 0.7%. The upheaval in Ukraine also pushed Japan's Nikkei futures down more than 1% with investors searching for shelter in government bonds. US Treasury-note futures prices profited 16/32.

The dollar fell ¥101.30 in early trade, its weakest since February 6, and last traded at ¥101.57, around 0.2% below last week. The euro also slacked 0.2% against the dollar to $1.3778, as the euro zone economy is seen as susceptible because of its dependence on gas supplies from Russia through Ukraine.

Versus the Swiss franc, the single currency plummeted to a 14-month low of 1.2116 franc. Concerns on gas supply also amplified Brent crude, the European oil benchmark, more than 1% to $110.20.

Placing additional stress on riskier assets, a government poll last Saturday reported activity in China's factory sector slowed down to an 8-month low in February, bolstering hints of a modest downturn in the world's second largest economy.

The official Purchasing Managers' Index surgef down to 50.2 in February, from January's 50.5, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, ahead of market anticipations of 50.1.