GLOBAL MARKETS-Gold glows, stocks wince as US bank results loom

By Tom Miles

HONG KONG, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Asian investors took refuge in gold and the Japanese yen on Tuesday ahead of a slew of quarterly U.S. bank earnings which could turn the outlook for the world's biggest economy from bad to worse.

Fears for the global economy, abetted by a gloomy outlook from the Bank of Japan, soured the mood after a run of unexpectedly positive news from the tech sector gave Asian markets some cheer early in the day.

Japan's Nikkei fell 1 percent, finishing below 14,000 for the first time since November 2005, with exporters such as Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) and Daikin Industries Ltd (6367.T) sold after the yen gained against the dollar.

MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.33 percent by 0620 GMT.

Mounting concerns about Japan's own economic outlook came to the fore after Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said Japan's economic growth was expected to slow for some time, even though the economy would continue to expand. [ID:nTKU002972]

Gold, a traditional safe haven in choppy markets, traded at around $908 an ounce after powering to a record $914 on Monday.

A gathering storm of U.S. bank news will break later on Tuesday when Citigroup Inc (C.N) unveils its fourth-quarter accounts. Merril Lynch MER.N and JP Morgan (JPM.N) will follow later in the week.

ALL EYES ON CITI