Gold soared nearly 1 percent to a seven-week high in Asian trade as the U.S. dollar struggled to regain traction ahead of the release of delayed U.S. jobs and inflation data as well as a slew of central bank decisions due this week.

Oil ticked higher as Venezuelan supply disruptions outweighed concerns over a massive oversupply in the new year.

Chinese shares ended lower as bondholders of distressed developer China Vanke rejected a proposal to extend a bond payment and a slew of Chinese economic data underscored structural weaknesses.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dipped 0.55 percent to 3,867.92 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.34 percent to 25,628.88.

Official data showed China's industrial production grew 4.8 percent year-on-year in November, missing forecasts for an increase of 5.0 percent and down from 4.9 percent in October.

Retail sales rose an annual 1.3 percent, well shy of forecasts for a gain of 3.0 percent and down from 2.9 percent in the previous month.

Fixed asset investment slumped 2.6 percent on year, missing forecasts for a loss of 2.4 percent after slumping 1.7 percent a month earlier. The jobless rate came in at 5.1 percent, unchanged and as expected.

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