Saudi Arabia ordered internal probe into unexplained disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi

Major stock markets slipped on Monday as rising tensions between Western powers and Saudi Arabia added to concerns over the pace of global economic growth, with investors flocking to traditional safe-havens like the Japanese and Swiss currencies, as well as gold.

Oil prices were little changed as the Saudi-West rift more than offset concerns over slowing demand for oil in the long term.

The yen touched a one-month high versus the greenback and the Swiss franc rose for the fourth session in five while gold hit its highest since late July.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Monday ordered an internal probe into the unexplained disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi as a joint Turkish-Saudi team was expected at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where the journalist and dissident were last seen on Oct. 2.

Turkish police have audio showing Khashoggi was killed at the consulate, sources told Reuters.

Over the weekend, prominent business people including JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon and Ford Chairman Bill Ford cancelled plans to attend an investor conference later this month in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter.

U.S. crude rose 0.55 per cent to $71.73 per barrel and Brent was last at $80.72, up 0.36 per cent on the day.

"If the Saudis don't come to the rescue when the Iranian sanctions kick in... it's going to be a very under-supplied market. That was the fear that was initially driving prices higher," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

On Wall Street, major indexes were mixed, with defensive sector stocks rising after soft retail sales data. Apple was among the largest drags after a warning from Goldman Sachs regarding overall consumer demand from China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 126.36 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 25,466.35, the S&P 500 lost 2.88 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 2,764.25 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.89 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 7,492.01.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.20 per cent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.05 per cent.

Emerging market stocks lost 0.72 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 1.04 per cent lower.

Japan's Nikkei slumped 1.9 per cent. Washington said it would seek a provision about currency manipulation in future trade deals with Japan.

DOLLAR WEAKENS

The dollar softened against major currencies after the weak U.S. retail sales data for September while Treasury yields were little changed after hitting last week their highest level in over seven years.

The euro rose 0.16 per cent to $1.1581.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.29 per cent versus the greenback at 111.88 per dollar, while Sterling was the last trading at $1.3155, up 0.01 per cent on the day.

The Swiss franc rose 0.40 per cent versus the greenback at 0.9873 per dollar.

Turkey's lira jumped 1.6 per cent to its strongest since mid-August after Trump cheered the release of a U.S. pastor who had been under house arrest in Turkey. Investors hope his release can lead to an improvement in strained U.S.-Turkey relations.

Saudi Arabia's riyal currency was still testing the boundaries of its peg at 3.7514 to the dollar - its weakest spot rate since June 2017.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 6/32 in price to yield 3.1633 per cent, from 3.141 per cent late on Friday.

Last week, 10-year yield reached 3.261 per cent, which was last seen in May 2011, while the 30-year yield hit a four-year peak at 3.446 per cent.

"The market will likely settle into its new range after the volatile trading of the past couple of weeks," said Boris Rjavinski at Wells Fargo Securities in New York.

Spot gold added 0.7 per cent to $1,225.66 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.76 per cent to $1,226.40 an ounce.

(With inputs from agencies.)