Asian stocks, which have been jittery this year at any ill omen from the U.S. market, are likely to take note on Monday of Wall Street's latest fall, while investors continue to keep an eye out for bargains.

The dollar hit a one-and-a-half week low against the euro on Friday and U.S. Treasuries soared, after a widely followed gauge of U.S. consumer sentiment plunged to a 16-year low in February, to a level that has previously signaled recession.

The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment sent a shiver through the U.S. market as it dropped in February to a level associated with past recessions.

And manufacturing in New York contracted this month for the first time in almost three years.

Australia's benchmark index dropped 0.4 percent as of 2317 GMT, as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd led the big banks lower after it flagged a $200 million provision due to a derivative exposure to a U.S. monoline insurer.

Stocks in the region had dipped on Friday after the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve said risks to the country's economic growth had increased, while global credit concerns resurfaced after a steep ratings downgrade of a U.S. bond insurer.

Asian stocks listed on Wall Street rose almost 1 percent on Friday, compared with a 0.2 percent slippage in the Dow Jones index.

(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Valerie Lee)

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